


Fate's Gaze

by godsofancientpast



Series: Silent War Series [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Ancient War, Complete AU, Egypt, Gen, Magic AU, Millennium Items, Monsters are Real, Silent War Series, Slow Burn, Spell Caster Duelists, Summoning Monsters, Zorc - Freeform, duels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 01:51:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8558560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godsofancientpast/pseuds/godsofancientpast
Summary: Prequel to Eyes of Darkness. Yugi's world is filled with magic since it was opened to them by the Ancient Egyptians. As were the Spirit and Shadow Realms, and Duel Spirits now live side by side with human Spell Casters. However after completing the Millennium Puzzle he finds himself in a war started by these same Egyptians. With his strange ally Yami they wage their war.Both here and on Fanficiton.net





	1. Watchful Golden Eye

**Author's Note:**

> As the description says, this is a Prequel to Eyes of Darkness. There are now three stories in this series, one following Yusei's life in this crazy universe, one following Jaden's, and now the one that starts off this whole crazy cycle, one following Yugi's.  
> Now none of these stories are finished yet, so if you're really confused by this you can read them in order or all at the same time. They're planned out and will eventually all make sense together, so it doesn't really matter how you read them. So far Dragon Pact, the first (and also technically last) story in this series has the most chapters with 14, however they all work together and will eventually complete each other.  
> Keep in mind that these stories are set in completely different time frames from one another, so they won't be matching up in the beginning. However they will eventually all match up and make sense, so you don't have to worry about that. This series is also set in a single AU (Alternate Universe) and that means magic is all over the place, as well as Duel Spirits. While there are no Duels like in Duel Monsters, there are still duels all over the place.  
> As with Dragon Pact and Eyes of Darkness, the chapter naming scheme of this story will reflect the main character's personality. Since Yugi and Yami are completely different people and completely different personalities, the scheme will go serious and then more comedic.  
> Anyway please enjoy, and I don't own Yugioh or the characters. Blah blah blah, you all know the drill by now.  
> Merlin can have a darker personality when he wants to. Again, this is part of a series that I actually started as just a stand alone story. I decided to make more though. These characters are based off of the world and character development seen in Dragon Pact (and eventually in Eyes of Darkness). These versions of these characters are therefore different because of the time that's passed between all of them, as are the worlds they live in.  
> Please don't get confused about this, but enjoy all three. None of the stories in this series are finished, but please enjoy them all.

Yugi ignored the phone as it rang once again. He knew it was his friends from school, calling for about the millionth time to see if he was alright, but he didn't feel like talking to them now. He'd been skipping school for the last three days, mostly because the bullying had only gotten worse. He didn't feel like going to school. Right now it was still early enough in the morning that he could make it if he hurried. Yugi didn't really feel like going though.

He hated school, mostly because everyone picked on him. He was short, and though he was already sixteen he was still only around four feet and 5 inches tall. He also looked like a child and was constantly mistaken for one, which didn't do anything but encourage his bullies. He had friends of course, and he was glad for their company, but he didn't have many.

He had Joey Wheeler as a friend, who had at one point actually been one of his bullies. Though when Yugi had shown him greater kindness than anyone else had he had accepted him as a friend and started hanging out with him. Joey was always one to jump forward to defend Yugi now, which got him into a lot of trouble at school. And his Partner, a Red Eyes Black Dragon Duel Spirit, wasn't helping anything. The creature was fond of fighting, rather much like Joey himself was.

Another friend of his had to be Tristain Taylor, a young man who had been friends with Joey for a long time. He was more responsible than Joey and didn't have a Duel Spirit Partner. His magic abilities were about average as well, but he was still a great guy to be around. There was also Anzu, Yugi's best friend from elementary school. She had always been there to help him out and was always one to be kind to him. She was probably the one calling him on the phone. Her magic wasn't that powerful, but it wasn't really that average either. She also didn't have a Duel Spirit Partner.

Yugi was a little surprised that he did. He had met the creature about six months ago, rather on accident. He had been hurt and in his human form, so Yugi had helped him. It was no secret that Duel Spirits who came to the Human Realm were generally very shy creatures. They came from the Spirit Realm, though some could come from the Shadow Realm (those were the dangerous kinds). Not much was really known about either of those realms. But the Duel Spirit (known as Merlin) had kept hanging around Yugi and had eventually accepted to make a contract with Yugi.

Yugi Moto just found that even more surprising, and laid a hand on the strange mark that had been put on his left bicep because of the spell that bound them together. They were now bonded for life, however long that ended up being. Yugi knew that he was kind and liked to help people, but he was also very timid. That much was obvious whenever someone looked at him. Yet when Yugi had asked (wondering about it rather than asking to make one) about making a contract with Merlin and why he was there, the creature had agreed and preformed the spell.

That was part of the reason Yugi hadn't gone to school. He was unsure what his friends would think, seeing how he hadn't even told them that a Duel Spirit had taken an interest in him. He'd been hiding it from them for six months. Besides that he didn't even know what Duel Spirit Merlin was. The Duel Spirit was calm and collected, not easily ruffled and spoke with wise words even though he was about as old as Yugi was. Yugi had no idea how powerful his Partner was or what his attribute was. He didn't want to go to school because his bullies would demand he have a Duel with him to decide whose Partner was stronger. Yugi didn't really want to put his new friend in danger that way. Besides Yugi hated fighting.

Merlin however was standing in the room. His human form had paler skin and shoulder length dark purple hair. His eyes were a piercing blue color and were watching Yugi closely and quietly. His face was devoid at the moment of emotion, simply calm and watching. He wore jeans and a simple purple hoodie with the hood down. He was also rather tall and thin for his age, but still appeared to have some muscle on him. This was because while in his human form he needed to look as normal as possible, though only Yugi could hear his voice. It was a self defense that had been bred into Duel Spirits years ago, because Magic and Duel Spirits were still at times greatly feared.

They were feared because it was impossible to tell which ones had come from the Spirit Realm and which had come from the Shadow Realm. Though Magic and Monsters had been around people for thousands of years, since Ancient Egypt had opened the portals between the worlds and brought magic into the Human World, not everyone had strong magic and not everyone had partners. Those with powerful magic were feared and hated. And Merlin knew that this was why people hated Yugi so much, because he was strong.

He didn't really look strong. He was small and looked like a child. His amethyst eyes were innocent and just sad, and his hair was strange as well. The main body of it was black but it was rimmed with red and gold streaks ran through it. He had his head down on his desk in his room, staring at an item in front of him, a golden box covered in hieroglyphics. It was obviously from Ancient Egypt, and Merlin's kind were tied to Ancient Egypt. This box was the only reason Merlin hadn't convinced him to return to school yet. Something about it made him very curious. Merlin glanced towards the door. Yugi's grandfather hadn't come up here, meaning he was probably out somewhere doing something for the game shop downstairs.

Merlin watched Yugi distractedly as he opened the box and pulled out golden pieces. It was a nervous habit the boy had to try and solve the odd puzzle that was in the box, which he'd been trying to do for eight years. Merlin could sense powerful magic off of the strange object and he wasn't sure what he thought of it. The phone began to ring again, but no one but these two were home. Yugi's parents had died when he was rather young, so he didn't really know them. He was being raised by his grandfather here in the game shop, living in the house above it.

Merlin however was distracted because he felt like something else was here. Something was watching. The Duel Spirit's eyes scanned the room suddenly to look for the source of it, and his eyes landed again on the golden box. In the center of it was a golden eye, which if he remembered right, was thought by the Ancient Egyptians to be a passage through which the dead could look through to them. He shuddered a little at the thought and wondered if something really was watching them from the Realm of the Dead. He didn't like the idea, and didn't really like the idea of having Yugi finish this puzzle and find out. The Ancient Egyptians were known to protect their dead by even killing people to do so. He hoped this wasn't a way that they were trying to do so.

The Duel Spirit paused as Yugi pulled out another piece and looked at it closely. He was sure he'd never seen Yugi pull that piece out before, and it made him even more nervous of the strange object. It was like the box, and though it appeared to be made of tiny golden bricks there was also a golden eye on this object as well. Merlin was sure now that he felt something watching. Powerful magic laid over that object, and he was nervous of it.

“ _Yugi,_ ” the Duel Spirit suddenly said. “ _You really should go to school. You'll make your friends worried for nothing. Leave the puzzle alone for now._ ”

“I guess,” Yugi said, slowly lowering his hand and looking down at the halfway completed puzzle kind of sadly. “I just don't really want to go to school. People will pick on me again, and they'll want to Duel. I don't really like to fight.”

“ _You just let me worry about that,_ ” Merlin promised. “ _I'll take care of anyone who tries to pick on you. Besides you've already avoided school for three days. I know you humans are supposed to go to school so lets get going._ ”

“But I don't want you to get hurt,” Yugi replied, putting the puzzle away and turning to look at the creature with those big innocent eyes of his. “Are you strong enough to Duel so many strong opponents? I don't even know what you are.” Merlin gave the boy a small secretive smile.

“ _Don't worry about that,_ ” Merlin replied. “ _I'm strong enough. I'm way more powerful than you think. Trust me on that. So come on._ ”

Yugi looked down, not truly seeming convinced. However to the Duel Spirit's relief he pushed the box away at least and stopped messing with the strange puzzle. The other presence seemed to fade for now, which Merlin was suddenly glad for. Then however both of them paused as they heard the bell that signaled that someone had opened the door to the shop go off.

“Yugi?” Anzu called. “I''m coming up alright?”

“ _She's persistent,_ ” Merlin said with another small smile. “ _I wasn't aware she was here. Are your other friends outside as well?_ ”

Yugi stood a little and peered over the window seal to look outside. He was surprised to see that Tristan and Joey were outside, along with Joey's partner named Slash. Slash was a taller young man with dark black hair that hung down to his chin and into his face. He also had blood red eyes and wore a black hoodie and black pants. He was looking up towards the window with a concentrating look on his face.

Beside him stood joey, who was about as tall and had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was watching Slash carefully and also looked up at the window soon afterward. Tristan had shorter brown hair and brown eyes and was slightly taller than Joey and Slash, and he paused as he looked back at the two.

“Joey and Slash seem interested in something up here,” Yugi said.

“ _Slash is the dragon right?_ ” Merlin asked, having been told about them though never formally introduced. “ _He probably senses me then. My magic is powerful and dragons are strange creatures. They're probably just concerned about you._ ”

Yugi gave Merlin a somewhat confused look. The Duel Spirit couldn't really blame him, seeing how he had never told him much about himself. The boy probably was scared he was from the Shadow Realm or something like that. He supposed though the boy would find out soon enough what he really was. Merlin sighed and leaned back against the wall. Yugi had already dressed in his school uniform, probably more out of habit than willingness to go. But soon the door opened and the girl came in, pretty much making up his mind for him.

Anzu was average height for her age but very beautiful. She had a rather large chest for her size and her body was well curved. Her eyes were blue and she had blondish brown hair. Her eyes seemed kind but also kind of angry as well. When Yugi saw her he gave her a somewhat nervous smile. She paused though when she saw Merlin leaning against the wall in the corner. Merlin gave her a long and hard look, sizing her up. She decided to ignore him for now and turned to Yugi.

“Where have you been, Yugi Moto?” she chastised him. “We've been worried sick, thinking you had gotten a cold or something. We hadn't heard anything!”

“S-Sorry Anzu,” Yugi said quietly. “I was just nervous.”

“About what?”

Yugi motioned to Merlin with his hand vaguely as Slash, Tristan, and Joey all entered the room. They paused when they saw Merlin as well, all looking at him closely. Slash seemed to bristle a little when he saw him, though Merlin didn't really respond either way and just kind of looked at them for a while. Yugi sighed.

“Him?” Anzu asked. “You haven't come to school because of him?”

“Well yeah,” Yugi said. “He's my Partner. This is Merlin. He's actually been hanging around me for about six months, I just didn't tell you guys. We made a contract about three days ago. I didn't want to go to school because, well I don't know how strong he is.”

“What is he?” Joey asked, looking at the stranger carefully.

“I don't know,” Yugi replied. “He won't tell me.”

“Then how do we know we can trust him?” Joey growled, and his bristling was matched by Slash.

“Joey that's rude,” Anzu said in a chastising voice. “Merlin probably has a very good reason for not telling Yugi what he is.”

“It is kind of unnerving though,” Tristan said. “For all we know he could be from the Shadow Realm.”

At this Merlin's eyes narrowed and he stood up, crossing his arms and letting out a low and audible huff. It was obvious from the look on his face that he didn't appreciate that comment and took offense at it. He knew it was a possibility that they would think that, but it didn't change the fact that it offended him because he was from the Spirit Realm. Anzu also crossed her arms and gave Tristan a glare that told him to back off.

“Now look what you've done,” she said. “You've offended him. Try to be nice for once you three.” She then turned to look at Merlin. “Hello, my name is Anzu. Keep Yugi out of trouble okay? This is Tristan, and that one with the sour face is Joey. The dragon is his Partner named Slash.”

Merlin continued to give them a glare that told them he wasn't happy with him, but then he seemed to decide that he liked Anzu well enough and leaned back against the wall. He looked away from them, though the offended look didn't leave his face. Yugi sighed. He knew that his friends were just trying to look out for him, but he really wished that they could have gotten off on a better foot than this with them.

“Well anyway,” Anzu said. “Since you're not sick we thought we'd come get you. We're going to be late if you don't hurry up.”

Yugi glanced towards Merlin, he gave him a pointed look. What he had said was true. He wasn't weak enough to get hurt because of the bullies that Yugi had at school. In fact, Merlin liked Yugi. He was a kind boy and though he was timid he had a big heart. So taking care of Yugi's bullies so they would leave the boy alone was just something else he could do for him. Yugi of course was worried more about his new friend than himself, which was something else that Merlin liked about him. But he wasn't just going to let him get away with hiding away. Yugi needed some tough friendship right now, and he was about to give it to him.

“Okay okay,” Yugi finally sighed. “Fine. Let's go. I guess we'd better get it over with.”

“Relax Yugi,” Anzu said with a smile. “We're not going to let people pick on you. And I don't think Merlin looks very happy about the idea either. It's going to be fine.”

Yugi just nodded and grabbed his school bag. Then he turned and walked out of the room, finally relenting and going to school. Tristan and Anzu quickly followed, but Joey and Slash still didn't seem very inclined to trust Merlin. Joey left, but Slash crossed his arms and glared at the unknown Duel Spirit.

“ _You'd better not try anything,_ ” Slash growled. “ _If you do I'll tear you apart._ ”

“ _I chose to be his partner,_ ” Merlin replied. “ _And I can assure you that I'm not from the Shadow Realm. You'll soon see what I am, and you won't be able to deny what I've told you is the truth._ ”

“ _You'd certainly better hope so,_ ” Slash snarled.

“ _You'll see._ ”

With that Merlin pushed past the dragon and followed the children downstairs. Slash grumbled angrily and followed as well, apparently not wanting to let the creature out of his sight. Merlin could understand why though. He appeared to be very protective of the children, and he didn't want to see them get hurt. He supposed it was his own fault for keeping his identity a secret. But after he revealed it they would understand that he meant them no harm. His kind were generally thought to be very helpful to humans after all, though they were also thought to be very inclined to fight and battle.

As Merlin joined the children and followed behind Yugi down the street to where his school was, he found himself thinking how odd that would be for Yugi. The boy didn't like fighting at all, yet he now had a Partner that had it almost bred into their DNA at this point. He supposed that things generally worked out that way, and things were hardly ever what they appeared to be at first glance. He was pretty sure that Yugi was definitely one of them.

An awkward silence fell over the group as they walked to school. Merlin decided it would be best to simply follow and do so silently. He didn't really want to upset anyone farther because of anything he could say or do. He knew that for now they didn't trust him, and they weren't going to trust him, not unless he showed them that they could. However the school really wasn't that far away. In just a few minutes they made it, and he followed quickly as the students hurried inside to their first class, which they all had together.

Nearly instantly Yugi looked like he wanted to shrink down and disappear from sight as quickly as he could. Students were already looking at Merlin and trying to size him up, probably wondering who he was and why he was around Yugi. Like Slash was doing, he was standing just to Yugi's right and just watching. Other Partners were in the room as well, all standing near their human Spell Casters.

Slash was growling a clear warning and telling the others to back off, but it wasn't helping. Several of the other students already seemed to be planning something. Yugi was right in saying that other picked on him, and they were mistaking Merlin for being weaker than his was since his Partner was so timid. Merlin felt a small smile touch his lips. They would soon find out how wrong they were. Then he doubted Yugi would be singled out as often with him around.

The teacher came in, quickly mentioning that it was time for math class and telling the students to get out their books. They quickly did as they were told, turning their attention front. Merlin knew (though admittedly only vaguely) that humans went to school and their teachers could be rather strict. The teacher though, a male in his middle ages, hardly seemed to batted an eye at the stranger now standing in the middle of the classroom, and instead returned to scribbling on the board.

Merlin watched Yugi through this first class, where he took notes but seemed rather unnerved and kept looking around at the other students. Merlin wasn't really paying attention to the lesson (though none of the other Duel Spirits were either) and simply watched Yugi closely. He was aware that Slash was now watching him closely, like he was going to try something. Merlin ignored the dragon and just kept a sharp vigil on Yugi and the others in the classroom who seemed determined to make his life a living hell.

The first class passed quickly and went on to the second, which seemed to be a lesson on history. Mostly they were apparently learning about Egypt, though the information that was being taught was something that Merlin already knew. Yugi however seemed far more attentive about this subject than before. Merlin was a little surprised about this sudden change in the boy, until he remembered the strange box that he kept hidden in his room. Something like that was bound to turn some heads. He supposed too that this gave the boy a reason to be curious. However the thought of the strange box again brought back the Duel Spirit's unease, and he spent the rest of the class worrying over it again. Something about it was strange.

The sound of the bell startled Merlin a little out of his thoughts, but he still frowned. The more he thought about that strange box and its golden puzzle, the more unnerved it made him. He wanted to tell Yugi to leave it alone, but something held him back. It was surrounded by powerful magic, yet something kept him from ignoring it. This is what increased the Duel Spirit's unease. He shook his head and looked up, noticing Slash's distrustful eyes still on him.

The dragon looked like he was going to say something to him, except at that point another boy made his way over to the group of friends. It was an off period, and the whole class was enjoying a break from the class, however this was also a time (which Yugi knew all too well) when students would challenge each other to duels and test their strengths.

Slash turned his attention and anger instead to this strange boy, whom Merlin decided he didn't like nearly instantly. He was a large young man, and unlike Yugi he was tall and thick for his age. He had black hair and dark blue eyes. He wasn't the sort of person that people liked to mess with. One glance around the room told Merlin that he was considered very strong, since most people seemed to look away quickly as if they weren't seeing anything. Behind him was the boy's Partner. This creature was also tall and large, having dark green hair and dark brown eyes. Merlin found though that he couldn't sense anything particularly magical about this creature. It was simply feared because of its strength, which he was sure he could overcome.

“Hey Yugi,” the boy said. “You seem to have a Partner there. You know what that means right?”

“Back off Greg,” Joey growled. The boy, Greg, just held up his hand and gave the boy a crooked smile.

“Now Wheeler,” he said. “You know that it's the rules around here. Everyone who gets their partner has to fight me and my buddy Titan here. You're not going to back down, are you Yugi? That would make you a coward.”

“ _This shrimp doesn't even look like he could stand up in a fight against me anyway,_ ” Titan said.

Merlin instantly bristled. If anything, he wanted nothing more than to crush these two right now because of this alone. He quickly drew himself to his full height and met the creature's eyes without an ounce of fear in his eyes. This only seemed to make the other creature sneer at him more. Merlin just gave a sideways smile then. If Yugi wouldn't accept then he'd accept for him.

“ _Really?_ ” Merlin asked. “ _Are you so sure? I suspect this battle would be easy considering your IQ is obviously on such a lower level than my own. I pity you._ ”

Every single Duel Spirit in the room deadpanned and looked right at Merlin. All of their jaws dropped and they just stared at him, including Slash who apparently thought that he had no common sense now. Yugi even turned to look at Merlin with some fear in his eyes. He was the only human who could hear his Partner (as it was with every pair) but all the Duel Spirits could hear one another. Titan began to bristle and glared at Merlin, who just continued to smile slyly at him.

“ _What did you just say to me?_ ” he growled in a menacing tone.

“ _Didn't you just hear me?_ ” Merlin asked. “ _Are you deaf as well as stupid?_ ”

“ _I'm going to kill you for that,_ ” Titan roared. Merlin's eyes narrowed.

“ _I'd love to see you try,_ ” Merlin said in a tone that made Yugi shiver a little.

“Well Yugi,” Greg said with a laugh. “It seems your Partner just accepted the challenge for you. Lets go outside then.”

Yugi gave Merlin a rather helpless look but the Duel Spirit didn't seem phased by it. He was obviously full of confidence about his ability to defeat this creature. After all, if it was dumb enough to be tricked into rashly wanting to battle by his taunts then he didn't think it could really be all that powerful. It was probably going to be easily tricked again. He followed Greg and Titan outside into the courtyard where other duels were taking place. Yugi trudged along silently behind, looking rather unwilling. His friends ran to keep up.

Soon there was a crowd gathering around them, and most people were looking at Yugi rather mournfully. It appeared by the smugness of both Greg and Titan that they were completely undefeated here at the school yard. Well Merlin supposed it was time he broke that little streak, as well as get people to stop picking on Yugi. Two birds with one stone. He was more than willing to fight this battle. They reached the yard and Greg stopped, turning to look at Merlin.

“Well I suppose I should explain the rules for the rookie here,” he said, looking pointedly at Merlin. “Here's how this works. Both teams stand apart from each other ready for battle. There are no attacks on the players allowed and no attacks by the players allowed. Also, you're not allowed to take your true form until your Spell Caster tells you to.”

“That's not stadium rules,” Yugi protested.

“That's my rules,” Greg growled. “Got a problem with it? Hurry up and get into position.”

With that Greg and Titan turned and began to walk to their positions. Yugi turned quietly and walked to the other, and Merlin followed them. Upon taking their positions  Yugi looked up at Merlin almost pleadingly. He looked quite terrified, even with his friends yelling encouragements in the background. Merlin felt almost a little sorry to drag Yugi into this. Almost. He needed to stop being so scared all the time. 

“Is it too late to run?” he asked quietly.

“ _I believe so,_ ” Merlin replied. 

“But Greg and Titan are the strongest people in school,” Yugi said nervously. “Why are you picking a fight with them?”

“ _I told you that I'm powerful, did I not?_ ” Merlin asked, giving Yugi a very serious face. “ _Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I've fought his kind before._ ”

“What big and scary?”

“ _No stupid,_ ” Merlin replied with a small smile. “ _Now listen. I'm going to try and tire him out. Then when he starts slowing down is when I'll be able to take my true form. That way, no matter how strong he is or how big, he won't stand a chance when I use my own powers. Do you understand?_ ”

“Y-yeah I guess,” Yugi replied. “But what are you?”

“ _You'll see,_ ”

With that Merlin stepped forward away from Yugi to face their opponent.  Greg gave a smirk as Titan, still glaring, got into position as well. The two larger boys were facing the two smaller ones, but Merlin didn't flinch or bat an eye at him. Titan was trying his hardest to look big and scary, and Merlin just didn't seem impressed. This obviously seemed to impress a few of the other students and Duel Spirits, since even Merlin could sense that Titan was powerful, whatever he was. Still, he was underestimating Merlin because of his size, and that would be his downfall. 

“Alright battle start,” Greg called. “Go on Titan. Show him what you're made of! Take your true form!”

Titan gave Merlin another death glare as he changed forms. To the observing eye it seemed that he simply fell forward and morphed (in quite an ugly fashion) into a large orc. He was huge and quite fat, though apparently he was also well muscled though Merlin wasn't too sure how that worked. Green pants were on his body though they were ripped off at the bottom, and a brown jacket hung around his waist. He was also carrying a large bone. His eyes were yellow and his skin was green, and two great tusks sprouted from his bottom lip. Merlin still didn't look impressed.

“ _Scared punk?_ ” Titan laughed. “ _Even with as tiny as you are, you're still putting on that brave face. Let's see how long that lasts._ ”

With that he swung his bone down towards Merlin like an ax. Merlin just nimbly dodged, being much smaller than Titan was. He wasn't that surprised. Merlin had expected some great big oaf like a Giant Orc to be his real form. Orcs were easily provoked and quite stupid. As Titan swung at Merlin again in the same fashion and seemed to grow more frustrated this only seemed to prove his point.

Titan swung again, and again Merlin dodged. As the Orc kept fumbling after the much more agile creature he just grew more frustrated. The onlookers however only grew more confused. Yugi seemed to be watching for something, but with as straightforward as this Duel was they couldn't really figure out what he was watching for. And Merlin was still in his human form. Wouldn't it be better to unlock his full power than just keep dodging. Confused, Joey turned to his smaller friend.

“Yugi what are you doing?” he called. “Tell Merlin to change forms! This is crazy!”

Yugi just shook his head at Joey and turned back to watch as Merlin easily danced around the creature in front of him. Titan only seemed to be growing more frustrated, and Merlin was just calmly staying out of his reach. Greg on the other hand seemed to smirk and think that everything was going in his favor. He looked up at Yugi, grinning at him.

“Is that all he can do?” he asked. “Run away? He's as spineless as you are.”

“ _Face me like a man,_ ” Titan roared angrily. Merlin just gave them a dark smile. 

“ _If you insist,_ ” he replied. 

Yugi saw what Merlin meant. The Giant Orc was beginning to slow and  was breathing heavier now. He was also only growing angrier and angrier, which would only make him more rash. Yugi liked to play games, and if there was one thing Merlin had learned about his Partner over the six months he had gotten to know him, it was that he was a great strategist. Yugi's eyes seemed to plant on the form of his Partner as he asked himself again what the creature was. But he soon opened his mouth. 

“Alright then,” Yugi called. “Don't hold back anymore! Show them your true form Merlin!”

Merlin closed his eyes as the transformation took place. What appeared to be a circular seal sat on the ground around his feet, and as it rose the clothing beneath it changed. It rose all the way up over his head, and everyone just stared speechless at him. For one, his transformation was much smoother and much more visually appealing than Titans had been. For another reason, he was also a creature that wasn't too terribly common to have as a Partner, but also was easily recognized by sight alone. As Merlin opened his eyes, he noticed that Greg looked a little nervous, though Titan seemed to still be ignoring logic.

“Merlin is a Dark Magician?” Ansu cried in surprise.

Merlin was tall thin but still had muscle. He still had the same hair and eyes and the same calm and collected face. However now he wore purple robes and a pointed purple hat. He held a staff in his right hand, a long thing that also had a similar point to his hat at the end and a green sphere. Yugi's jaw dropped in surprise, as did that of many people watching including Yugi's friends. Titan on the other hand just sneered.

“ _That's it?_ ” he growled. “ _I was expecting something more. How are you supposed to fight me like that? They say that Dark Magicians have powerful magic. Show it to me then, and stop running from me like a coward._ ”

“ _Come and find out then,_ ” Was Merlin's response. 

He was hoping to provoke the creature into one more stupid attack.  He was right. Even though Greg tried to call his Partner back Titan wasn't going to listen to him. He wanted to make Merlin pay for mocking him like he had. This time however Merlin didn't budge. He waited until Titan drew closer and then raised his staff, pointing it at the large creature, and then he cast his spell. 

As soon as he did the Giant Orc let out a grunt and crashed off to the side of the Dark Magician. He didn't stir after that. Merlin hadn't done much damage, but the attack soon had the giant oaf snoozing away on the ground. Now however it was obvious that the duel was over. There wasn't much else that Greg could do now that his Partner was out cold. Merlin turned to look at Yugi, who seemed absolutely relieved that he hadn't hurt him. He knew that Yugi was way too gentle of a person to want to see anyone hurt. Merlin simply returned to his human form and walked back to Yugi's side, looking at him pointedly. 

“ _Let that be your first lesson,_ ” he said. “ _Analyze your opponent before you attack. Use their weaknesses against them. However it isn't always necessary to hurt them either. I suppose the other students won't really be singling you out now will they? I told you I'd take care of that._ ” Yugi blinked for a moment in surprise, and then smiled. 

“Thanks Merlin,” he said.


	2. Of Puzzles and Teenage Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are with chapter two. This story isn't going to be the same as Dragon Pact since I won't really be focusing on the classes that Yugi is taking. Most of the action of this story happens outside of class, so I'm not going to worry about writing about what they learn. In Eyes of Darkness and Dragon Pact however it's different. What they learn in class highly affects what happens in the storyline (though more so in Dragon Pact than in Eyes of Darkness).

Yugi noticed almost immediately that not only did everyone who usually tormented him leave him alone, but also that his friends took to Merlin very quickly. Slash even started being much more friendly than he had been towards his new Partner. Merlin really didn't look like he cared either way and wore the same calm and collected expression as always. Yugi however suddenly felt much happier than he had in a long time. All of his friends (newer and older alike) were now getting along and no one was bullying him today. He was in a much better mood as school ended for the day and his friends gathered just in front of the gates.

Slash was standing just behind Joey, who looked like his head was going to explode. He really didn't like learning that much. Tristan was eying Joey like he was going to give him a little surprise when he let his guard down. Anzu was smiling and chatting away towards Merlin, who just kind of leaned against the gate and nodded to her when it was appropriate since she couldn't really hear him speak anyway. Yugi Merlin might have looked slightly annoyed, but he was putting up with Anzu quite well and seemed rather patient around people.

Yugi couldn't lie to himself and say that Merlin's change earlier hadn't surprised him. He had definitely been surprised. The Merlin he had more or less gotten to know was calm and wise. However being a Dark Magician that he was (as most Magicians in the “Dark” family were) it didn't surprise the boy too much. They all really seemed almost hardwired for battle. Though Yugi really didn't like fighting in any form, he wasn't really complaining about having his Partner keep the students who had been tormenting him away. The day had gone much better than he had thought it would, and he was glad to finally be in a better mood.

“So what now Yugi?” Anzu asked, giving Merlin a break and startling Yugi out of his train of thoughts. “Are you going to go home?” He nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “Grandpa's probably wondering where I am since I told him I wasn't going to school today. I'd better head back.”

“Well just remember that we need to meet up for our study group later,” Anzu said kindly, then shot Joey a death glare. “And that means you're coming too.”

“Don't worry Anzu,” Tristan said, eying Joey carefully. “I'll make sure he gets there.”

Joey looked about ready to protest when Slash said something and grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away down the street. The others just blinked after them, unsure what had just happened, though Yugi spotted Merlin giving the scene a slight smile. Of course the Dark Magician had understood what had been said and what was happening because of it. Yugi just smiled and shook his head. These were the things that were everyday occurrences and made him smile.

“Well I'd better get caught up on homework,” Tristan said, raising his hand in farewell. “See you guys later.”

“See you later,” Yugi replied with a smile.

“Come on Yugi,” Anzu said, starting to walk down the street. “Merlin. It's been a while since I stopped by the shop on my way home. Let's go!”

Yugi had to run a little to catch up with her since she had much longer legs than him, though Merlin quickly caught up with little effort. He didn't really mind though. Anzu had always been his friend and had always stuck up from him. While the other kids had been scared of him because of his powerful spell casting ability, she had just accepted him and practically demanded that they be friends. She was one of the best friends he'd ever had, so he wasn't complaining that he had to run a bit to catch up as she went down the street.

Anzu kept chatting away with both Yugi and Merlin, usually about nothing in particular. She talked about how she and Yugi had met, the test they had coming up, how her parents were doing. Mostly she just talked, and she seemed to not mind when Yugi didn't join in and just let her talk. She was a very friendly person after all, and she knew that Yugi was rather timid sometimes. Soon however they had made their way back to the game shop, and Yugi opened the front door.

As he did they found his grandpa sweeping out the front room as usual. He turned and smiled when he saw the three enter, since he had known that Merlin had been around and had seen him around the last six months a lot. He winked at the Duel Spirit when he saw Yugi's huge smile, glad to know that he was looking after him after all.

“Ah hello Yugi,” his grandfather said. “Glad to see you went to school after all today.”

“Yeah,” Yugi replied. “And I got to introduce Merlin to my friends.”

“Did you know that he's really a Dark Magician?” Anzu asked.

This seemed to gain Grandpa's interest. Yugi knew it was because Grandpa really loved Ancient histories and things like that, and he had always been interested in Egypt especially after he had gone on an expedition and had found some very interesting things in the ruins there. He looked very long and hard at Merlin then and seemed to smile.

“Ah,” he said. “I didn't know, but I'm glad I do now. Did you know, children, that Dark Magicians are thought to be Ancient and powerful creatures, a race that has stood the long test of time? As are all those in the Magician 'family' as they are called. However there are legends surrounding Dark Magicians especially.”

“There are?” Anzu asked, much more interested now. Yugi and Anzu turned to Yugi's grandfather and Merlin leaned back against the wall as usual.

“Oh yes,” Grandpa continued, glad to have their attention. “It is said that the Magicians were the first to arrive from the Spirit Realm when it was opened by the Ancient Egyptians, and it is they who opened the minds of humans and allowed them to learn magic, the secrets they had been keeping since their race had begun. Without the Magicians none of us would have learned magic at all. That's why these Magicians are considered both helpful around people, and strangely warlike. They are wise creatures and even the youngest are powerful. They don't appear very often, though strangely enough those Magicians branded with 'Dark' somewhere in their name are the Magicians that appear most around people.”

“There are others?” Anzu asked. Yugi smiled.

“Of course,” he replied. “Quite a few. For example, there are the students of the Dark Magicians known as the Dark Magician girls, then the Dark Sages, the Magicians of Dark Chaos, and other such creatures. These units make up what is known as the 'Dark Magician Families'.”

“True,” Grandpa agreed, looking at Merlin again. “However the most famous of these creatures are Dark Magicians. That is because even to this day they are known in Egypt as the King's Magician.”

“Why is that?” Anzu asked.

“Well,” Grandpa replied with a small smile. “No one quite knows why. It is said that once a single member of their race was an ally to a great and powerful Pharaoh. However the name remains a mystery. There are little to no records of this person, and there are few tombs left undiscovered in the Valley of the Kings. However Dark Magicians are revered for their powers and intelligence, and they have many ties still linking them to Ancient Egypt.”

At this all three humans seemed to turn and look at Merlin, who didn't really look that much more interested in the situation than usual, probably meaning not very interested at all. His facial expression hadn't changed, it was obvious that this was something that he'd already known about his own race. He just continued to lean back against the wall and watch the humans for a while. Yugi found himself wondering again about the puzzle upstairs in his room.

“Ah,” Grandpa suddenly said. “While I'm at it, I think I need some help. Merlin, Anzu, would you mind giving me a hand?”

“What about me Grandpa?” Yugi asked. “I can help too.”

“No you have quite a lot of homework you need to catch up on,” Grandpa said. “Don't you need to get started on that instead?”

“Oh you're right,” Yugi said with a little dread. “I guess I'd better start then. Anzu, get me when it's time to go to our study session alright?”

“Got it,” she replied.

With a sigh Yugi turned and made his way up the stairs to his small little room. He flopped down with a sigh into his chair and sat his bag down on the desk. However the glimmer of gold quickly caught his gaze. He found his eyes drawn again right towards the strange box with the item known only as the Millennium Puzzle inside. Yugi suddenly thought of Ancient Mysteries. His Partner was a mystery linked to Egypt, and so was this puzzle. No one knew what it really is or why it was where it had been. In fact, they were sure it had been in a tomb but there were no records anywhere of this tomb or the name of the person buried inside.

Yugi brushed his school bag off onto the ground and grabbed the box again, pulling it towards him and looking at it closely. He'd never learned to read Egyptian Hieroglyphics, however his Grandpa had once translated it for him. From what he remembered, it spoke of Ancient power hidden away within this item, a power known as a Shadow Game. Yugi wasn't sure what that meant, but the thought of it had always both confused and excited him. He wanted to be the one to discover the mystery of this puzzle. It was rumored since the day it had been broken into all these pieces that it had never been solved, and that had been hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

He opened the box and peered inside at the object. He had half of it completed, and that had taken eight years. Even his Grandpa had decided that there was no way that he could complete it and even given up asking about it about a year ago. But Yugi kept trying. He supposed it was a fault of his, something that his mother had once had. He hated to leave things unfinished. Even with as timid as he was, he wasn't one to just ignore all the hard work he'd already put into this thing. He pulled out the pieces that he already had assembled and then reached inside for the next piece.

To Yugi's slight surprise, his hand didn't fall on the piece he had just spied out and reached for, but instead for another. He shook his head, deciding it was nothing worth really worrying about. He reached forward towards the puzzle, then paused and flipped it over so that it was the other way. Then he inserted the piece with little difficulty where it was supposed to go and felt it click into place. Now Yugi again paused and looked at the puzzle. Last time it had taken him almost ten minutes to figure out where the piece went, yet now it was easy? He wasn't sure what it meant, and looked down at the box again, as if it held answers.

Yugi felt like he was being watched. He wasn't sure by who, because these street was deserted except for a few stragglers who were down the street quite a ways. He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see his rather silent Partner, but found nothing. It wasn't Anzu or Grandpa either because they were laughing downstairs for the moment. In all appearances he was alone. So why did he feel like he was being watched? He found his eyes on the puzzle again.

The Millennium Puzzle had eyes. He was sure of it now, though not really how. He felt like he was being watched, and he found himself suddenly believing that something inside the puzzle was watching him. He didn't know how, but he found himself not really wondering about it either. It was from Ancient Egypt right? Those people were known to be tricksters and powerful Spell Casters. It was even said that the most powerful lines of Spell Casters originated in Egypt. Did that mean he came from Egypt? He shook his head and reached for another piece.

Again he picked up a piece he hadn't reached for, and again he flipped over the puzzle and slid it into place quickly. He found himself a little unnerved. Why was it so easy today? What had changed that made it suddenly seem so easy? He wasn't sure, but he decided the only way he'd feel better about it was finishing the puzzle. This time he just reached into the box and didn't even look. This piece was soon snapped into place as well.

He repeated this process for about an hour, simply reaching in and placing the pieces where they were supposed to go. A few times he closed his eyes and reached and placed the pieces, but it never failed that the tiny golden bricks slid right into place. It was as if something else was guiding him and telling him how it was supposed to go together. Sometimes he looked somewhere else entirely and didn't even look where his hands were sliding the pieces. It didn't matter. The outcome was the same, and the puzzle that had taken him nearly eight years to complete nearly halfway was suddenly falling into place as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Yugi knew for a fact that it wasn't. Hundreds of people had tried to piece together the object in Ancient Egypt and beyond until it had been sealed in that tomb and left there for hundreds of years. It was said that no one had even had the patience to get it as done as he had it before today. Yet now it was just falling into place. He found himself staring at the puzzle as his hands worked on it almost as if someone else was controlling them. He had felt like he was being watched. What if it was because he was? Was there something within the Millennium Puzzle that had been awakened. He wouldn't put anything past such an Ancient and powerful race.

Besides, Yugi's life was already surrounded by magic and spells that had once been thought impossible. Why couldn't there be something inside of this thing? Merlin had certainly seemed to have been very nervous of it now that he thought about it. He had been very adamant about him leaving this thing alone. Maybe he had sensed the magic surrounding it? He couldn't really think of any other reason why this would be, especially now knowing what his Partner was.

There was a loud snap and Yugi jumped a little, looking down in surprise. He felt his jaw threatening to drop as he looked at the nearly completed Millennium Puzzle. That snap had been all three corners snapping into place. Yugi couldn't believe it. The only piece now missing was the final piece, the one with the eye on it. He just blinked for a few minutes at this thing. How was it that when it had taken him nearly eight years to complete half it had only taken him an hour to finish the other half? What had changed. He steeled himself to find out and reached for the final piece.

He paused as he looked at it. The way he was holding the puzzle the piece wouldn't fit in that way now. It would have to be placed in the other way. He turned it over and paused when he saw that the pyramid shape, was upside down. It was like the giant pyramids of Giza that stood in the sands of Egypt. Only this time the base of it was facing up. He also noticed that there was a ring on this side of the now inverted pyramid. He reached over to the back of the desk and rummaged through the piles of things he had there, pulling out a strong cord his grandpa had given to him in case he finished it. He slid it through the loop and tied it off at the end.

He then took a deep breath and slid the final piece in. Now with the pyramid inverted the eye was facing the correct way, and looking out at him. As this also clicked into place he waited, sure that he still felt someone watching him. He laid it down on the desk and looked at it for a while, unsure what else to do.

“ _ **You finished it,**_ ” came a voice from behind him, sounding almost in awe of the feat.

Yugi jumped up out of his seat in alarm and turned to look. What he saw made his jaw drop, and he was unsure whether or not to be afraid or just plain confused. There was a person standing in the room, and he looked like, well a darker skinned version of Yugi if he had been about average height for his age.

The boy was around the same age as Yugi, probably around sixteen years old or so. He was also wearing white linen clothing with a blue belt and a blue cape. He had what appeared to be a crown of sorts made of gold sitting on his brow with the same kind of eye sitting in the middle of it. There was also a bracer made of gold with a fan coming off the side of it on his right arm and golden earrings. The boy had amethyst eyes like Yugi had, though they were much more confident and serious. He had the same hair, black with a red rim and gold streaks running through it. He was probably the strangest person Yugi had ever met, and Yugi was sure he hadn't been in the room a few seconds ago.

The stranger was wearing the Millennium Puzzle, which made Yugi jump and look behind him just to double check. How was it that it could be in two places at once? He wasn't sure, but it was still laying on his desk. Yugi looked carefully again at the stranger, who looked up to meet Yugi's eyes. For a while they just stood there, staring at the mirrored version of themselves that was in front of them. Then the stranger crossed his arms.

“W-Who are you?” Yugi managed. “How did you get in here?”

“ _ **I was in there,**_ ” the stranger replied, nodding towards the Millennium Puzzle. “ _ **A few people have managed to complete it about halfway, but none as far as you. And none had been able to sense me awakening within the puzzle. That's why you were able to finish it so quickly. I think I know how to put it together.**_ ”

“You think?” Yugi asked. “I don't understand. How could you be in there? What does that make you?”

“ _ **Probably a ghost,**_ ” the stranger shrugged. “ _ **I'm probably dead and have been for a long time. I've been inside the Millennium Puzzle since it was first broken.**_ ” Yugi blinked and took in the boy's attire again.

“Then you're an Ancient Egyptian?” Yugi asked. “You're wearing period style clothing I guess. Why would you be in the puzzle then?”

“ _ **I'm Egyptian?**_ ” The stranger asked.

Yugi deadpanned at those words and looked at the other boy strangely. He truly didn't seem to understand though and just kept looking at Yugi with a very perplexed expression. Yugi was even more confused now. How could he not know that he was Egyptian. It seemed fairly obvious to Yugi. He was wearing a whole lot of gold and a fairly short almost robe set. He also was wearing sandals. It appeared to be something that would be worn when it was very hot, and as far as he knew Egypt was very hot. He looked at the stranger carefully.

“You didn't know?” Yugi asked. “You're wearing Egyptian clothing. Well I think. I've never actually been there.”

“ _ **Well I know that I know Egyptian,**_ ” the stranger replied thoughtfully. “ _ **That's what it sounds like you're speaking to me.**_ ”

“I'm speaking Japanese,” Yugi replied with more confusion. “You sound like you're speaking Japanese to me.”

“ _ **I guess that means the Millennium Puzzle translates for us both then,**_ ” the stranger said with another shrug. He took a closer look at Yugi. “ _ **But you're sure I'm Egyptian?**_ ”

“Well the Millennium Puzzle comes from Ancient Egypt,” Yugi said. “How is it that you don't know?”

“ _ **Because I don't have my memories,**_ ” the stranger replied as he looked out the window. “ _ **I don't know who I am, why I was in there, or even where I come from. I remember nothing.**_ ”

Yugi just stared at the strange Egyptian boy then, not really understanding or sure what to say to him. He didn't have his memories? Why was he living on inside something like this then? He supposed that did explain why it looked like he was wearing the Millennium Puzzle when Yugi knew that he had it behind him on the desk. Yugi was unsure how to respond to the boy, but he felt bad for him. He seemed really sad now.

At that point there was a knock on the door. Yugi jumped and grabbed his school bag, pulling it open and shoving the Millennium Puzzle back into its box and farther back on the desk like he had been doing his homework. However the strange boy didn't move or try to hide himself as the door was opened and Anzu peered in. She looked around confused and then at Yugi, who just blinked at her. How could she not see the Egyptian standing two feet in front of her. His question was soon answered as she walked right through him without batting an eye, though she did shiver suddenly.

“A bit cold in here,” she mumbled. Then she looked up. “What's going on Yugi? I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

“J-Just thinking aloud,” Yugi said. “Some of these questions are really hard. Are you almost done downstairs?”

“Kind of,” Anzu said with a smile. “Grandpa sent me upstairs to look for another broom. Do you know where they are?”

“Look in the closet across the hall,” Yugi said with a nervous smile.

“Thanks,”

With that the girl left the room and grabbed a broom and was soon headed downstairs again. Yugi shut the door to his room and turned with a perplexed expression to the boy, who still hadn't moved. The stranger turned his eyes to Yugi and looked at him closely. He seemed to be sizing him up, trying to decide what he thought of him.

“Why couldn't Anzu see you?” Yugi managed.

“ _ **Only you can see me,**_ ” the stranger replied. “ _ **You're the one who completed the puzzle. You're the one that the Millennium Puzzle has accepted as its master, so you're the only one who knows its secret. For now at least. There are other ways to see me and know I am here.**_ ”

“I guess you are a ghost then,” Yugi said. “She walked right through you and said it was cold. It's just, well all kind of strange.”

“ _ **I suppose it would be,**_ ” the stranger replied.

Yugi looked up again at the stranger. Yes, he had finished the Millennium Puzzle, which since Ancient Egypt had been said to be impossible. He also now had an apparently amnesiac Egyptian Ghost standing in his bedroom. However Yugi was still instinctively a very kind person. This person, whoever he was, just looked very sad. He wasn't sure how to help cheer him up, but he still felt like he should try.

“Look,” Yugi said. “I'm sorry about your memories. But since you're apparently stuck with me we can try and figure things out together. But I have to be able to call you something. I guess for now we'd have to come up with a nickname to call you.”

Yugi fell silent then as he tried to think of something, and the stranger looked at him closely. He found himself thinking that the smaller boy was very kind. A lot of strange things had just happened to him, yet he was just taking it all in his stride suddenly and accepting it. Not like there was much else he could really do though. And he was right in saying that they were probably going to be stuck together for a while. He didn't even really know himself what having this boy solve the puzzle actually meant. Yugi looked up and smiled again.

“We'll call you Yami,” he said.

“ _ **Yami?**_ ” the Egyptian asked, testing the unfamiliar word and pronunciation on his tongue. “ _ **What does that mean?**_ ”

“It's a Japanese word that is used to describe things that are dark,” Yugi explained. “It's kind of like these 'Shadow Games' that this box the Millennium Puzzle was found in is like. I know it's not exactly the most flattering name, but it's something right?”

“ _ **Darkness?**_ ” the Egyptian asked. “ _ **Like a shadow? I suppose that's all I am really, just a shadow of what once was. Alright, you can call me Yami. But what's your name? I can't call you nothing either now can I?**_ ”

“It's Yugi,” the boy replied with a smile.

The boy who had recently been named Yami blinked a little as he looked at the smaller boy's smile. He certainly was a happy young man, whoever he really was. Yami supposed that he would get to know him soon enough. However Yami was also suddenly very relieved. He was glad that, whoever he was, the person he'd been bound to because of his condition (whatever that really was) was a kind person. Yugi was his only ally right now, the only clues he had to what he was.

It wasn't much, but Yami desperately wanted to know about his past, and why he had been in this Millennium Puzzle. However Yami knew that there were several things he knew, and one of the most dangerous of them was that he knew how Shadow Games were played, and he had a bad feeling that they were going to have to play then soon.

Yami watched Yugi for a few moments. Neither of them really had any idea what was going on or why. They barely knew of the Shadow Games or really what they were, though Yami got the feeling that they were very bad. Either way though, they were in this together. Yami let a small smile touch his lips.

“ _ **Thank you, Yugi,**_ ” he said. Yugi just nodded and smiled.

“We'll work through this together,” he said. “Even if it means I have to hide you from my friends. Actually I probably should. This seems a little hard to explain.”

“ _ **I think that would be best,**_ ” Yami replied with a nod. “ _ **I think we had better wait to reveal this to them until I'm sure what kind of people they are. If they're someone I can trust then I think it would be fine. But until I know for absolutely sure I can't take that chance.**_ ”

“They're good people,” Yugi assured him. “But I understand.”

“ _ **We're agreed,**_ ” Yami said. “ _ **You should probably wear the Millennium Puzzle. Like this.**_ ” Yami tapped the puzzle on his chest. “ _ **That way I'll be sure to always be near you. I have a feeling that you should keep it close.**_ ”

Yugi nodded and reached back into the box, pulling out the puzzle and slipping it over his neck. He made sure that the knot was tight one more time before he looked up again. Yami also gave him a nod, and then both paused as they heard a second knock on the door.

“Hey Yugi,” Anzu called through it. “Its about time to go to our Study Group. Grab your bag and get ready okay?”

“Yeah coming,” Yugi called.

Yugi grabbed his bag and zipped it back up. Then he quickly hurried to the door. True to his word, he didn't mention Yami or even glance back at the strange boy from the Millennium Puzzle. Anzu paused only a moment to look down at his chest and the heavy item that hung around his neck now. She seemed surprised at it.

“Is that it?” she asked. “The puzzle? You finally finished it?”

“Yeah,” Yugi said with a smile. “I did.”

“It looks like an Egpytian Pyramid,” she observed. “Weird.” She paused a moment and then shook her head. “Anyway we're going now. Come on, Merlin is waiting downstairs.”

“Right,” Yugi called cheerfully.

Yami followed silently down the stairs. Yugi noticed that he appeared to be walking on it, but since he wasn't exactly completely there its not like he made any noise, not even on the steps that creaked under their weight as they went down it. They reached the front room, and Grandpa was off in the other room preparing something to put out in the shop. Yugi was suddenly grateful. He felt like explaining how he had suddenly finished the Millennium Puzzle so many times was going to be a headache already. His Grandpa would ask questions but his friends wouldn't, and he'd rather wait until later for those questions to be asked.

Merlin however was standing in the room and didn't miss anything. He froze and his eyes narrowed when he saw the puzzle completed. He hadn't been aware that Yugi had been working on it, and the puzzle had only been around half done this morning. How had it been completed so quickly? Merlin was sure, now more than ever, that powerful magic laid over this object. And he still felt like he was being watched. He looked up, and though he never saw Yami, Yami saw his reaction. He realized that this Duel Spirit was highly in tuned with magic. He could sense him. Were there many others like him? It was going to be hard to stay hidden then.

“ _I don't know how you did it,_ ” Merlin told Yugi in a dark voice. “ _But I don't like it. I'd be careful of that thing if I were you. There's something powerful surrounding it, and something strange about all of this._ ”

Yugi nodded but other than that didn't respond to his partner. He didn't feel like explaining that there was a dead guy from Ancient Egypt with no memories following him around now. He also didn't really think it was something he could really prove. Anzu would definitely think that he was losing his sanity. This was something that he needed to keep under wraps for now, at least for as long as he could. He tried his best to change the subject, but both Anzu and Merlin could hear the nervousness in his voice when he did so.

“Come on,” he said. “We're going to be late.”

Both of them watched after Yugi as he hurried out the door. He was hiding something from them. Both of them knew it. Yugi wasn't a good liar. But if there was one thing he could be was stubborn. Even if he hated confrontation if Yugi made up his mind to keep a secret nothing was going to get him to talk about it. He'd avoid it and lie badly about it, but he wasn't going to tell. The two of them couldn't help but be worried suddenly. What had happened to make him this way? What were they missing? They weren't sure, but they followed him out the door anyway. If there was one thing they were sure of, it was that leaving Yugi on his own in whatever mess he was involved with now was just going to lead to disaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there was chapter two. I don't really have much to say now. I do like this version of Yami though. He's kind of fun. ;)  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy as this series takes shape. I still haven't thought of a name for this series though. I should figure that out.


	3. Keeping Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter three of Fate's Gaze! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this story so much. This one is a fun one to write and I have a lot of plans for this entire series!  
> Thanks for the support that this whole series (which still doesn't have a name by the way) is getting from the community. Also thanks to those of you who have followed me over from the other two and followed and dropped a favorite for the whole trilogy. I'm going to work really hard so I won't disappoint you!  
> Also something to notice. The Shadow Games in this story are more like the Shadow Games in Season 0. Rule breakers get punished and bets are made, sometimes very high stakes bets. However I find that more interesting, though there may be some that are set up more like Duels. Depends on the situation.

Yugi couldn't help but be nervous the whole way to the park for their study session. For one, he had Anzu and Merlin watching him like a pair of hawks like he was going to just do something stupid right then and there. Also he had his silent and watchful Egyptian not making him feel any better. He felt like he had way too many eyes on him, and he wasn't really in the mood to explain things to anyone. What was worse was that he knew his friends would be able to tell he was hiding something. He was just far too easy to read. He didn't like keeping secrets, but he didn't know what else to do. No one would believe him, and as far as he knew his friends would think he was insane if he tried to tell them about his invisible dead friend.

They soon found Tristan and Joey waiting at their usual tables in a nice grassy area. Usually Yugi found it peaceful, but not he just found it kind of stressful. Slash, who was holding a very dejected Joey by the crook of his right elbow (probably to keep him from escaping) noticed instantly. Yugi just found it more distracting to have so many eyes now watching him closely. He chanced a single glance at Yami for a second, pleading for help. But Yami just shrugged with an equally as stressed face. He couldn't exactly help and he didn't particularly want to be found out.

With some awkward silence they all took their places. Yugi looked down pointedly at the table, knowing that Merlin was standing just to his right side and watching his every move carefully. Seeing his unease Joey and Tristan found themselves looking at Yugi, and they realized that their friend was troubled and appeared to be very worried about something. They watched him for a moment too, wondering what had gotten into their friend. Finally, Anzu leaned forward.

“Yugi?” she asked. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” Yugi said a little too quickly and quietly.

“Yugi we can tell something's wrong,” Anzu said.

“Did you get into some sort of trouble?” Joey asked worriedly. “Do we need to take care of it?”

“You can tell us what's going on man,” Tristan added. “We're your friends. We'll understand.”

“ _ **That I highly doubt,**_ ” Yami said quietly. Of course none of them heard him and Yugi didn't look up or respond to this.

Yugi had to agree. He didn't even know what was going on, or why something so weird had just suddenly happened. How would they understand if he didn't have a clue? He found himself looking down suddenly at the Millennium Puzzle. Everyone's eyes but Yami's followed his, and his friends paused as they looked at it.

“Is that the Millennium Puzzle you've been working on?” Joey asked.

“You finished it?” Tristan asked. “Haven't you been trying to do that for, what was it, eight years?”

“Ever since you put that thing on you've been acting weird,” Anzu said. “We sent you upstairs to do homework, and you probably just worked on that, didn't you? Yugi what about that thing has got you so worked up? Because you finished it?”

Yugi pursed his lips and continued to look at it. He'd promised Yami that he wouldn't say anything about it until he was sure that he could trust them. Well he was sure that he wasn't going to trust them just in the first five seconds of meeting them. For all he knew Yami was just as confused about what was going on as he was. He didn't have his memories after all. If there was any chance that he knew what was going on, he couldn't remember what.

“No,” Anzu realized. “It's something else?”

“ _I realize that there's something about this,_ ” Merlin said carefully to Yugi. “ _There's something far more than just the magic of this item at work. It's something dangerous. Do you understand now why I said I didn't like it? I don't understand why but, I feel like I've heard of this before. The problem is, I can't remember what. Duel Monsters live as long as humans, and that means that whatever this is, its little more than legend to me as well. But I can sense the magic surrounding it. There is something far bigger at work here. I'm sure of it._ ”

At this, Yugi looked up at his Partner. Something far bigger at work? What could that be? He wasn't sure, but he did notice that Yami seemed to tense at these words. Even if Yami didn't have his memories like he said, was it possible that somehow he knew what Merlin was saying was correct? Yugi wasn't sure, but he quickly looked away from him. His friends seemed to grow confused when he turned his eyes to apparently thin air and then away again. He seemed to be staring off into space except for one thing: his eyes were focused on something, not distant like they expected.

This only served to confuse them more. The silence only seemed to deepen. Yami found himself both a little nervous and a little impressed. Yugi's friends certainly seemed to be trying to look after the boy's welfare, and as far as he could tell they were good friends. There was something dangerous about the puzzle? Well he was sure there was. He could after all hear the boy's Partner because he was in a sense part of Yugi. Yami was sure that there was definitely something dangerous about him and this puzzle. In fact he was almost sure of it, even though he didn't remember anything. Still, Yugi's friends were smarter than he had first taken them for. Yami hoped he would remember to not just judge people by what they look like.

The Egyptian turned his eyes instead to Yugi's Partner, Merlin. The creature seemed much more highly in tune with Magic than even the other Duel Spirit. Yami closed his eyes a moment, and he felt his mind reaching out to watch them again through the Millennium Puzzle. Slash paused and looked up in some confusion, but Merlin absolutely jumped and looked around. The dragon could sense the powerful magic, but it was nothing close to what the Magician could sense through his years of training. Yami was a little surprised and quickly pulled back before the creature could pinpoint his location. He could tell the creature was good. He looked up again. Merlin was looking around now, carefully. His eyes nearly hit the spot where Yami was standing, almost. They quickly turned another direction though. Yugi however didn't miss this.

“Merlin?” Anzu asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Slash reacted to something as well,” Tristan noted, giving the dragon a glance as well. The children knew that the Spirits were far more perceptive to things than they were.

Merlin slowly turned his eyes to look at Yugi now, wondering what the boy was hiding. Yugi looked down nervously. If Merlin asked something...what was he supposed to say? He needed to think of something to tell him, but the boy was still hoping strongly that he wouldn't ask anything at all. Merlin began to open his mouth to speak, but then froze and whirled around. Slash sensed the disturbance as well and raised his head, letting a snarl (which sounded like that of his true form's) leave his lips. Merlin also bristled as he looked around.

The humans raised their heads, confused. Even Yami was looking around carefully now, wondering what had gotten their attention this way. It was at that point however that Yami felt the same thing, and by extension Yugi felt it as well. It was a tightening in their chests that warned that something was coming, and they felt a desire to destroy roll over them. Yugi had never felt such emotion like this before, and he suddenly jumped and started trembling. The others noticed and began to grow nervous as well.

“Y-Yugi?” Anzu asked. “Yugi are you alright?”

Both the dragon and the Magician turned around at the question and paused in surprise as they saw the boy's reaction to the very same thing that they had just sensed. Their kind was used to this feeling since the Shadow Realm bordered the Spirit Realm and the battle between both was a never ending cycle. They had basically been born into this war. However the humans had never come across anything like this and Yugi was scared stiff of it. He jumped a little however and paused as Yami laid a steadying hand on the boy's shoulder. Yami wasn't sure how, but he knew that he had faced something like this before, and he wasn't scared of it. The Egyptian's calm demeanor helped calm Yugi down a little bit as he looked around.

What was it? And where was it? He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he didn't like the fact that it was so silently hiding. He glanced over his shoulder once at Yami's severe eyes. Yami didn't like it one bit either, but he was also a little frustrated. He knew that he had sensed many similar presences before, but he couldn't remember from where. How was he supposed to help if he didn't now how? At least Yami knew one thing though. He was fairly certain that, whoever he really was, he was a kind person. The only thing he could think about was that this was dangerous and they needed to get away from here. Luckily, Joey seemed to have the same train of thought.

“I don't like this,” Joey said. “I think we should call off the study session. And it's not because I don't want to study. Something's going on.”

“For once,” Anzu mumbled quietly. “I agree with you. Let's go.”

“No complaints here,” Tristan said, giving the two Duel Spirits cautious glances.

The three glanced at Yugi, who was still kind of frozen on the spot. What was he supposed to do? What was going on? He got a bad feeling about this whole thing. Why was it that this was happening now that he'd solved the Millennium Puzzle. He looked down at it suddenly. Was it because of this? If it was surrounded by powerful magic like Merlin said then was it possible that something else had sensed it and was coming to take a look? He could feel it's desire and he didn't like it one bit. His face fell into a frown.

“ _ **I think it's coming after us,**_ ” Yami said, as if reading the boy's train of thought. “ _ **Whatever it is, it can sense this. That means we're a danger to your friends if they're near us. We should go.**_ ” Yugi nodded to him without looking.

“You're right,” he said, more to Yami though it sounded like he could be talking to his friends. “We should go.”

He then paused. But how could he get away from his friends so they wouldn't be hurt? Yami was silent and didn't seem to have any ideas how either. Again though, it seemed that his friends came to his rescue. It was Tristan who spoke up this time as he nervously looked at all of his friends. They all looked up at him as he nervously put his hands in his pockets and looked down.

“Look,” Tristan said. “I know this kind of sounds like a bad idea, but I think we should go home different ways. I think there's something nearby, so maybe if we split up it won't bother us.”

“That doesn't sound like a good idea at all,” Anzu protested loudly. “What if there is something here? What if it attacks someone? I know Joey and Yugi have Merlin and Slash to watch out for them, but that's still dangerous.”

“Then you and I can walk home together so we won't be alone,” Tristan replied. “Either way, I want to be away from here. Something feels off.” Anzu was quiet for a long while.

“Fine,” she said. “Everyone be safe alright, and call once you get home. Got it?”

They all nodded, and then silently picked up their bags and left without having gotten anything done that day. Yugi quickly picked up his bag and hurried off in a direction that no one else was taking, and Merlin quickly hurried after him, looking rather confused. The park was soon behind them, and Yugi was taking a purposefully long route so that he wouldn't run into anyone else on accident. Merlin watched the boy with a lot of confusion as he went along, wondering what had gotten into him. However the silence didn't last long.

“ _ **As I thought,**_ ” Yami said with a slightly dark edge to his voice. “ _ **Whatever this is, it's following us. I don't like this.**_ ”

Merlin grabbed Yugi's arm suddenly to stop him, making the boy jump. He had obviously sensed the same thing that Yami had just voiced the concern of. The Dark Magician was no bristling even more than he had been before, and he was glaring in the direction they had just come from. Yugi didn't try and pull his arm out of his Partner's grasp. He was sure that there was something going on, and he'd rather keep his allies close.

“ _I know you're there,_ ” Merlin growled. “ _Come out._ ”

There was silence, but Merlin kept glaring and wouldn't move. Yugi started looking around carefully for the source of his Partner's anxiety. Yami too was almost staring without blinking (though did he really need to blink?) towards the direction the Duel Spirit was facing, watching carefully for any signs of the creature that had been following them. Nothing stirred, and there was silence for almost a full minute. Soon though, something stepped out of the shadows.

Yugi wasn't sure what he had expected, but he could tell that Merlin didn't like it one bit. The creature wasn't like any that he had ever seen, and a dark thought suddenly came to him, one that he couldn't really ignore. It was from the Shadow Realm. It was a tall creature with dark black skin and white hair that hung down to the ground. It had dark green eyes that appeared to be almost staring at the two of them with no emotion, though it was giving them a fanged smile. From the waist down it appeared to be part tiger, though it was a black color with white stripes, almost like an inverted creature. It was wearing very little clothing and had the chest of a woman. She (he thought) also had armor like plates running down its back. And carried a staff. It looked at Merlin.

“ _Oh?_ ” it said in a voice that was definitely female. Yugi could clearly hear it and it made him shudder a little. “ _A Duel Spirit? Well what are you then? Go on. Change for me. I'll be nice and let you. I'm not in THAT much of a hurry._ ”

Merlin's eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't seem to like her much at all, not that Yugi could blame him. Every human, even though without Partners, knew that Duel Spirits from the Spirit Realm fought those from the Shadow Realm, and did so with a vengeance. They didn't like each other at all. The reason for this never ending war seemed to be because Spirit Realm Spirits were much kinder towards humans and most were even helpful towards them. They seemed to enjoy the company of humans as well, and were often very protective of the ones they came to care about. Shadow Realm Spirits however seemed to enjoy inflicting agony on any human they came across. Yugi was suddenly glad for Merlin's presence now more than ever. If he had been alone, well it probably wouldn't have been very pretty.

Merlin glanced back at Yugi, who looked pretty terrified, then seemed to decide he needed to take that chance. He stepped forward and took his true form, allowing the strange seal to reveal what he really was. The strange Shadow Spirit seemed to glare at him for a minute, her eyes narrowing dangerously. She eyed his staff a little apprehensively. Then she gave him another fanged smile. Merlin didn't seem to like that one bit and again stepped back in front of Yugi, raising his staff aggressively and clearly warning her even though he was silent to stay away.

“ _Ah,_ ” she said. “ _The 'King's Magician'. That's what the humans call your kind, yes? Oh come now darling do you really want to start a fight out here? You know how much damage it could do, don't you? Try to be civil for a while._ ”

As if to prove what she was saying, she crossed her arms and held her staff off to the side, even going so far as to point it away from Yugi. Merlin didn't move, but his eyes narrowed more as he looked at her. It was obvious that he didn't trust her at all, and especially not around his Partner. Yugi chanced to peer around Merlin at the creature again, who winked and waved at him. Yugi felt that there was probably something more to this than she was letting on. Merlin didn't relax.

“ _What are you trying to do?_ ” he growled in a dark voice. “ _Your kind hate humans, and yet you don't want to fight? What are you here for then?_ ”

“ _Something the boy has,_ ” she replied. Merlin snarled at her. “ _Oh calm down won't you? I just want the object and then I'll leave. I have a mission, and time can't be wasted on killing some dumb human._ ”

“ _ **She wants the Millennium Puzzle,**_ ” Yami said in realization. “ _ **She can't have it. I don't quite remember why but...it's just very important. Keep it away from her!**_ ”

The creature seemed to size up Merlin for a moment, as if trying to decide whether making him angry was also worth her time or not. She then looked past the Dark Magician at the boy behind him. Her eyes however then fell upon the Millennium Puzzle hanging around his neck. Her jaw fell open, but her surprise was soon replaced with rage. Merlin was confused by her reaction, but quickly composed himself, ready to leap forward if she should prove dangerous.

“ _Impossible,_ ” she cried. “ _That puzzle has never been solved! How are you wearing it!_ ” She took a step towards the boy and let out a hiss when Merlin stepped once forward to intercept her. “ _I didn't think it would happen so soon! This Millennium Item also has a protector!_ ”

“Protector?” Yugi asked nervously.

“ _ **Yes,**_ ” Yami replied. “ _ **While you solved and became the Master of the Millennium Puzzle, you're also it's protector.**_ ”

Yugi was confused about this whole situation and what was going on. He glanced back at Yami, but he was frowning thoughtfully again. He wasn't too sure how he knew that Yugi was now the Millennium Puzzle's protector, or even really what that meant. But the Shadow Spirit was growing more and more aggressive. Merlin carefully watched her as she began to snarl a little, raising her staff and growing more and more ready to strike.

“ _What do you mean protector?_ ” Merlin asked her carefully. “ _What is this about Millennium Items and the boy?_ ”

“ _It means he protects it,_ ” she snarled. “ _The Millennium Puzzle answers only to him and gives him its powers, but he also keeps it safe._ ”

“ _Safe?_ ” Merlin asked. “ _Safe from what?_ ”

“ _You speak too much Magician,_ ” she hissed. “ _Just know that I need it. My master needs it. Now hand it over boy, or I'll kill you. There's no negotiation this time._ ”

Yugi was confused. What was he supposed to do? Her certainly didn't want to start an open battle with a Shadow Spirit out in the streets. People would get hurt, and Merlin wasn't just going to let her kill him so there was going to be a battle. He began to grow more and more nervous. If there was a battle his friends would probably come running back to try and help. He paused though, because Yami stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“ _ **Yugi listen,**_ ” he said. “ _ **We have to protect his puzzle, and I know you don't want this thing to hurt anyone.**_ _ **I have an idea. You're just going to have to trust me.**_ ”

Yugi wasn't sure what Yami meant, but he didn't have any ideas. He gave him the slightest dip of his head to tell him that he understood. Then Yugi gasped as he felt almost a sharp tug in his mind. It didn't hurt, but when he looked up he found himself looking instead at Yami. Wait that was his body! Yugi looked down at himself and noticed that he seemed rather, well insubstantial. He left no imprint in the grass and cast no shadow. He looked up again.

Yami was taller than Yugi and even when he was in Yugi's body his height changed. His skin was paler than it had been when he was in his ghost form, though his hair had seemed to change with him. His eyes were much more severe looking, and he was full of confidence. He crossed his arms and looked up at the strange creature, and she paused to see the change in the boy. Yami had switched places with Yugi, and now he was in his body!

Merlin could sense the change as well, and he paused and turned around in surprise. He blinked and backed away a little in confusion at the change in his Partner as well. Yami on the other hand didn't even glance over in the direction of the Dark Magician, who could not see his Partner since he had switched places with Yami.

“You didn't think I'd let you get away with trying to steal this, did you?” Yami asked through Yugi's lips.

“ _What is this?_ ” Merlin asked in confusion. “ _Who are you?_ ”

“Don't worry,” Yami promised him. “I didn't hurt Yugi. We just switched places. I know what I'm doing, well I think.”

“ _You think?_ ” Merlin asked.

“I don't have my memories,” Yami replied. “Either way, I understand a way we can do this without causing massive damage to the city.”

“ _You are,_ ” the Shadow Spirit said and paused. “ _The Spirit within the Millennium Puzzle, correct? An Ancient Spirit. Well why have you come out now then?_ ”

Yami's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, and she seemed to pause and shift a little nervously. This other boy wasn't afraid of anything. She watched him carefully, then seemed to take a step forward. Merlin didn't seem to know what to do, and just looked very confused. Yami turned to look at him.

“I can see you're confused,” he said. “Well know this then. I am the Spirit within the puzzle. Yugi and I met after he finished it, and he agreed to keep my existence a secret. I don't know who I am or even my own name. But I'm going to help you if I can.”

“ _And just how do you plan to do that?_ ” the Shadow Spirit asked. Yami gave her a long and hard look.

“With a Shadow Game,” he replied.

There was suddenly a silence between all three of them. Yami folded his arms and looked directly at the Shadow Spirit, a clear challenge to her. Merlin felt a shudder pass through his body. He wasn't sure what Shadow Games were, but he wasn't sure he exactly wanted to find out. Yugi was just as confused as Merlin but remembered the box mentioning basically the same thing. The strange creature took a step forward and gave Yami a careful look, smiling her fanged smile and lowering her staff again as she did so.

“ _Interesting,_ ” she said with almost a purr. “ _And just what do you know of Shadow Games?_ ”

“They're punishment games,” Yami replied instantly, as if he knew it all by heart. “Shadow Games are played in a different space and time, and magic is heavily involved. If you break the rules during the game then horrible consequences await. If you don't uphold your part of the bargain in this game then they are much worse. The rules are set by the person who issues the challenge and cannot be changed at any point. We both bet something incredibly important, though conditions can be set by the challenger and accepted by the one who was challenged. Death was often a part of Shadow Games in the past.”

“ _So you do know of Shadow Games,_ ” she said. “ _Fine then. What's your challenge?_ ”

Yami closed his eyes, trying to think of something that he could use. What was he supposed to do? It was a huge risk he was taking, but if he didn't do this then a lot of people were going to get hurt. She was way too strong for a timid boy and a single Dark Magician to take care of. He was quiet for a while, then finally looked up again. There was nothing else he could do. He had to try something. Shadow Games were sometimes dictated solely by luck.

“A game of questions,” he replied. “The rules are simple. We both ask questions, and the other tries to answer it. We get points based on questions we get right and questions our opponent gets wrong. For right answers you make you get two points. For wrong answers your opponent makes you get one. The first person to seven points is the winner. This however is my conditions. If you lose you're never to set foot into the Human Realm or the Spirit Realm ever again. However if you win I'll hand over the Millennium Puzzle.”

“ _Interesting game,_ ” she replied, licking her lips carefully and savagely. “ _But I'm not leaving here without that puzzle. Just to be clear, there is no outside interference?_ ” she gave Merlin a purposeful look.

“Of course,”

“ _Then boy I accept,_ ” she laughed. “ _I'm ready when you are._ ”

At that, Yami raised his hands and cupped them around the sides of the Millennium Puzzle so the eye was still clearly visible. He gave Merlin a single glance, he nervously nodded. He didn't really have any other ideas and he was a little relieved that she wasn't going to attack anyone. Then he closed his eyes. The eye in the center of the puzzle seemed to glow a bright golden light, and then suddenly a bubble of darkness surrounded them. Yugi jumped and looked around. Right, another space and time. That's what this was. He felt himself nervous too. What was Yami planning?

“ _Well then boy,_ ” she said. “ _Since you're the challenger I'll go first. It's only polite that you let a lady go first after all._ ” Yami simply nodded his consent. “ _Very well. My first question is_ _this:_ _How many levels exist in the Shadow Realm for humans who've strayed inside?_ ”

“Seven,” Yami instantly answered, again as if he knew it. “Each progresses in how terrible the human's punishment is according to what kind of person they were. The first level is little more than a place where evil people remain and become like the Spirits. The last level is a place of endless torture and death.” the Shadow Spirit snarled a little.

“ _Correct,_ ” she said. “ _Well then boy? It's your turn now._ ”

“That's two points for me,” Yami said, ignoring her furious face. “Well then this is my first question. In history there are many Egyptian gods mentioned, however there were only a few that were real. What is the number of the true Egyptain gods?”

At this, the creature frowned as she thought. She seemed to have an idea of the answer, but she seemed unable to think of it. Yugi felt his hopes rising just a little bit. However the creature then looked directly at Yami.

“ _Three,_ ” she replied. “ _Though there were many ancient and immortal creatures that were revered as gods, only three were called 'true' gods. These were the gods that were often called forth by the pharaohs. Other such creatures exist as gods, but not exactly to the Egyptians._ ”

“Correct,” Yami said without batting an eye. “Two points for you. It's your turn again.”

“ _Indeed it is,_ ” she said. “ _and I think it's safe to assume that we've both tested the waters with our questions. Now I'll ask something harder. My second question is this:_ _What happens when all the Millennium Items are gathered together?_ ”

At this question Yami frowned. What happened? He felt like he knew but he couldn't remember. In fact he was almost sure there was something blocking that memory. It frustrated him that he couldn't think of it. Was he going to have to guess? He closed his eyes as the creature smirked and tried to think. He finally opened his eyes.

“Legend says,” he said with some difficulty. “That if all are gathered together then a great and terrible power will be once again unleashed. Something will be unlocked, and something will be released. Darkness will return to the world.” He paused a moment. “And war will begin again.” The strange female blinked then snarled again.

“ _Correct,_ ” she hissed. Yami forced himself to not sigh in relief. “ _Well then. It's your turn boy!_ ”

“So it is,” he replied, “and I have four points. Now for my second question: What word was written on the tomb of the unnamed pharaoh the most?”

The creature snarled as she looked at him, forcing herself to resist the urge to attack him. It would only harm her as well. She concentrated on a pebble lying on the sidewalk, forcing herself to try and come up with an answer that would work well. She looked up again and met the boy's determined eyes and only snarled more.

“ _The word is darkness,_ ” she replied. “ _It was written to warn the people that would come after and read the words against what was to come, but never reveal what that was. It's also the tomb that is hidden the best in the Valley of the Kings and has the fewest traps, as if to encourage someone to take the correct path._ ” Yami was silent for a few moments.

“Correct,” he replied. How did he know all of this? He shook his head. It wasn't important. The questions just kept coming to him. Unfortunately she knew them as well. “You now have four points, and we're tied again. Now it's your turn again.”

The creature snarled and her cat like body bristled. Her long claws clacked against the cement. She needed a question that would stump him or she would lose. She should have insisted on going second! They were evenly matched and so he would always get more points than she would unless she could turn this around somehow! She needed to think of something he wouldn't know. She glanced down at her staff and then smiled slyly, looking up confidently. Yami paused and wavered just a moment, wondering what she was planning. However it soon passed and his determination returned.

“ _You're a good opponent boy,_ ” she said. “ _However are you good enough? My third question is this: What are my kind called?_ ”

Yami's eyes narrowed as he watched her smirk. That's why she looked so confident. Who knew what kind of creatures lived in the Shadow Realm? Only those that had been there. It made sense that there were Duel Spirits in the Shadow Realm like in the Spirit Realm, only no one knew the names of these creatures because no one returned from the Shadow Realm to tell what they were. Also unlike Spirit Realm Spirits they didn't reveal their names or species to humans. They only knew the levels because the dark creatures loved to brag about it. He'd just have to go off of what he knew and take a guess. He supposed he should have made the rules more strict. He was silent for a long moment and looked at her carefully.

“You are a cat like creature,” he said. “Probably from a jungle, and knowing the Shadow Realm it's probably something foul. You're also a Spell Caster.” He closed his eyes and thought a moment. Now here came his guess. He felt like he knew Spirits well, and he supposed there was nothing else to do but rely on that instinct. “Your species is known as Sorceress of the Dark Jungle, Ailurotaur.”

Her reaction was instant, and her jaw dropped. She seemed to grow even angrier than ever and bristled more. Merlin, who was still standing just to Yami's left and was silent, also bristled instinctively at the level of rage in her eyes. She carefully held herself in check though.

“ _Impossible,_ ” she cried. “ _How could you possibly know that?_ ”

“It seems luck is in my favor,” Yami replied. “And as such, I now have six points to your four. Now since you asked such a rather unfair question I think I'll return it with one of my own.”

Yami closed his eyes and paused. Yes, but what kind of question could he ask? He needed to keep her from getting the Millennium Puzzle, but he couldn't cheat at this game or there would be some horrible things to come, and this wasn't even his body! He didn't particularly want to force Yugi to suffer because of him. At the thought of the boy that he had just switched places with he paused. Yes, he would have to ignore his instinct and think outside the box, and he had a good question that might be bale to win him this game. He looked up.

“I have no memories of my past,” he said. “And I can't remember my name. As such, Yugi gave me a nickname of sorts so he could call me something. That name was Yami. So tell me, what does that name mean to me?”

The Sorceress snarled a little, and her cat like tail flicked as she eyed him. That was a rather unfair question, but she understood why he'd done it. If their situations had been reversed she would have done the exact same thing. She growled a little but thought carefully. It couldn't be that complicated. At last she gave him a snarl and raised her head.

“ _Yami means darkness,_ ” she said. “ _but that's far too easy. Your name means to you just that though, darkness. That puzzle gives you the power to play Shadow Games and safely control them. It is a harnessed weapon. And since you can play them, it means to you: shadow._ ”

“Wrong,” Yami said with a small smile. “You're right when you say it means shadow to me, but not that kind of shadow. To me it means that I am the shadow of what I once was. I am no one, so I am nothing but a shadow. And since you answered that incorrectly I get a point. That's seven points. The game is over, and I have won. Now you're going to have to leave.”

“ _You lie,_ ” she roared.

“I can't lie,” he replied. “If I had I would have been breaking the rules, and I would have received my punishment. You've lost the game, and if you don't leave and keep your part of the bargain you will be punished and severely. Remember, you can never set foot into this Realm or the Spirit Realm ever again.”

“ _And who is there to enforce these rules?_ ” she growled.

“The Shadow Games were first played in Ancient Egypt over five thousand years ago,” Yami said in a dark and warning tone. “It is said that when a Shadow Game is played the gods of the Egyptians are watching, and they will punish those who break the rules. And they remain watchful for those who do not uphold the bargains they made.”

The Ailurotaur paused as she looked up at the boy again. Merlin and Yugi both jumped a little and looked at Yami in surprise as well because at that point a very clear mark of a golden eye, much like the one on the Millennium Puzzle, appeared on his forehead, opening up suddenly and staring at the Duel Spirit from the Shadow Realm. It glowed brightly and had an unnervingly unblinking gaze. It was watching judging. She quickly backed up and forced herself to relax.

“ _I will go,_ ” she said grudgingly. “ _However it's also said that when the user of a Millennium Item enters a Shadow Game, those with similar items who are near can sense this game and will come looking. You should also know that I am not the only one who wants this item. Others will come, and my master has agents in many forms. But the game is over, and I accept my defeat. As agreed, I will leave and never return to this Realm or the Spirit Realm._ ”

The creature turned then to walk away, and the unblinking eye faded from Yami's forehead. Then he sighed and closed his eyes, placing his hands in a cupped position around the Millennium Puzzle again. As the barrier keeping them in the realm of the game disappeared, Yugi felt the sharp tug again in his mind and was suddenly back in his own body. He jumped and looked behind him at the silent Yami, who looked as he had before.

Yugi turned to look for the Ailurotaur, but she was gone. Feeling relieved but also very nervous, he turned to look at Merlin. The Dark Magiciant hadn't moved or changed position and just blinked at the boy, who was now as short as always and had much gentler eyes. He wasn't sure what he was going to do.

“Merlin please,” Yugi whispered nervously. “You can't tell anyone. Yami just helped save a lot of people. You know he did! I don't think he's evil, I know he's not! So please don't tell the others, or anyone. Something weird is going on. That thing wanted this!”

“ _It's dangerous,_ ” Merlin replied. “ _You heard what she said! Others will come! Well you're going to get hurt if they do. Can Yami play Shadow Games and defeat them all?_ ”

“I don't know,” Yugi replied quietly. “But we can't let them get their hands on it.” he held the Millennium Puzzle carefully in his hands. “You heard him too. If all of them are gathered together something really bad is going to happen! Right now we're the only ones who can protect the world, because apparently if we don't war will come again. You understand don't you? We have to protect this for as long as we can!” Merlin paused as he watched Yugi, but he knew that the boy was right. This was dangerous, but letting it go could prove more so. He looked down.

“ _Fine,_ ” he said. “ _But I still don't trust him, these Shadow Games, or that puzzle. I'll keep your secret though, and I'll help you protect it._ ” Yugi smiled, looking very relieved.

“Thanks Merlin,” he said. “I know you can trust him. Just give him some time. You'll find he's not a bad person.”

“ _I'll be the judge of that,_ ” he said. “ _Now let's go._ ”

Merlin returned to his human form and turned to walk away. Yugi quickly followed, with a silent and thoughtful Yami close behind. However as they were walking, they didn't notice another pair of eyes watching, astonished from the shadows.

These eyes were blue, but long dead and held very little emotion. They had no life in them, and there was no spark at all. They belonged to a man that was already dead. The man wore a long tan cloak and a white cloth over his head. He appeared to be around eighteen or so, but he was still a young man. Golden and large hoop earrings hung from his ears, and on his chest another golden object glittered. His eyes followed Yugi in obvious surprise, and they remained locked on his Millennium Puzzle until the boy turned a corner and disappeared from view.

The blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. But the figure didn't follow the boy or even make his presence known to him. He turned instead and walked away, tapping the golden object on his chest once. The air shimmered around him as if in a desert mirage, and then he disappeared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a wild guess who that was. ;)  
> Also, I'm just making the Spirits from the Shadow Realm up. The name Ailurotaur comes from the word Ailuro (like in Aliurophobia which is a fear of cats) and taur is taken from the word centaur (which you know is a half human half horse person). I basically just made up a word for a made up Yugioh card xD  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This character at the end (not saying who in case you don't know for spoilers) will appear a lot and have quite a lot of significance in this story, and not like he did in the Anime.


	4. If I see One More Ghost...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter four! I haven't updated this one in a while. I hope you guys are enjoying the series so far, which now has a name. It's called the “Silent War” series, and I have a community that you could follow (which you could find on my profile) for your reading convenience. I will add other stories that would follow this same world for Zexal/Zeal and Arc V. That'll have to wait until I'm done with these though. (and when I actually watch Arc V).  
> Anyway, thanks so much for all the support guys! I changed this story's cover image again, but I found a better one that I think fits much more. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this and the other two, which I am working on updating as well.

Yugi couldn't be more relieved when he finally found himself inside his house. He didn't even say hello to his grandfather as he ran up stairs as fast as he could. He let out a long sigh when he realized that he was safe at last, but quickly grabbed the phone too as it began to ring.

He knew Anzu would just worry if he didn't call her, and that way his other friends could relax too. It had been quite a while, and he knew they were probably already all home now. The fact that he hadn't called yet would really worry them. Merlin and Yami watched the boy silently as the phone rang, though Merlin couldn't help but glance around nervously. He knew Yami was watching silently from somewhere within the room. There was a click and then Anzu's voice came through over the phone clearly.

“Yugi?” Anzu gasped.

“It's me,” he replied. “I made it home alright.”

“DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS ABOUT YOU?” She exploded. “I thought you could have gotten hurt. Why on Earth did it take you TWENTY MINUTES to get home from the park? I was worried that something horrible could have happened!”

“S-Sorry Anzu,” Yugi said. “But you shouldn't have worried. I wasn't alone. Besides, I just got a little caught up in something is all.”

“Having Merlin with you is no excuse,” Anzu hissed. “And what on Earth did YOU get caught up with? I know for a fact that you hate confrontation!”

“Sorry I think my grandpa is calling me,” Yugi quickly said. “I have to go, bye!”

“Yugi wait-”

Yugi hung up the phone and dropped it back onto his desk. He watched it a moment, guessing that he really should just carry the cell phone around already and be done with it. He leaned back in his chair though and took a deep and calming breath. He couldn't just let himself freak out like that again. Merlin watched the boy a moment.

“ _Well you could have tried to be more subtle about it,_ ” the Dark Magician pointed out.

“I know,” Yugi sighed.

“ _ **It did seem quite suspicious,**_ ” Yami added.

“Don't you start too,” Yugi groaned, folding his arms on his desk and letting his forehead fall onto them in exasperation.

Merlin might have questioned his partner's sanity then except for the fact that he knew for a fact that Yami actually did exist. He'd seen the change in him, and he'd heard the words from the spirit's own mouth (or would that be Yugi's mouth?). He was an ancient being who existed within the Millennium Puzzle. It was a little hard to miss the fact that Yugi had gone from a timid teen to a young man bursting with confidence. You might miss the height difference or the way that he did sound just slightly different, in fact, you might think you'd just imagined the whole thing.

It also didn't comfort the Dark Magician knowing that this strange puzzle apparently gave Yugi strange powers that made him a target in some unknown plot. It was dangerous with it, and dangerous without it. But Yugi was stuck with it now, and Merlin knew that he was also stuck with these odd “powers”. It did make him wonder though. Were they really Yugi's powers, or did they belong to Yami?

He had seen some odd things already, like the fact that Yugi had been able to sense the strange Shadow Spirit following them, and that he had known that she was following them. Maybe that had also been Yami, but he couldn't be sure. Besides that, the Millennium Puzzle itself seemed to have some strange powers, such as creating the universe for the Shadow Game to take place, and the strange and watchful eye that had appeared on Yami's forehead.

There were a lot of things he didn't understand, and he wished he could look into all of it. However he was very nervous to leave Yugi alone in the company of no one else but Yami himself. So far apparently the ghost had shown nothing more than good sense and a willingness to protect Yugi, but was he only doing it protect the item itself? He couldn't be sure, and he didn't know much about him at all. It made him nervous.

Yami noticed Merlin frowning, deep in thought. He couldn't really blame him though. It seemed like he had a lot on his mind as well. Yami could understand. The whole plot surrounding the Millennium Items itself was confusing to him, and the fact that he knew that he knew the real story and couldn't remember it only made it worse for him. He felt himself stressed out, but he was keeping this to himself. He could tell that Yugi was equally as stressed about the whole situation, and so apparently was Merlin. They all had a lot on their minds.

Merlin knew however that if he was going to get to the bottom of this whole situation he was going to have to go looking for answers. That however meant he was going to have to leave Yugi alone for a while, even up to a few weeks if that's what it took. He wasn't sure if he'd find anything, and he didn't want to leave the boy unguarded, however he knew that if he was going to get any information he needed to go, and soon. He nodded to himself, having made up his mind. There was just one last thing he needed to do.

“ _Yami,_ ” he called to the strange spirit. “ _I don't know if you can hear me now, but I need to speak with you._ ”

The Millennium Puzzle which was hanging down around Yugi's knees now flashed with a bright golden light. The boy at the desk shifted, and Merlin quickly realized that he was taller now and his hair was different. Yugi's amethyst eyes had turned from innocent and kind to serious and rather expressionless. He got the feeling that there could be kindness in those eyes, but that was masked now by a deep sadness and loneliness. Seeing this made the Duel Spirit pause. However he quickly met the eyes of the ghost with a serious expression of his own.

Yugi jumped a little, now standing in the spot that Yami had been before. However it was clear that Merlin wanted to talk to Yami and was a little bit nervous of him. Yami turned the rolling chair so that it was facing the Duel Spirit, and Yugi turned to look at him now too. He was in his human form now, and he looked deadly serious.

“Yes?” Yami asked. “What is it?”

“ _I,_ ” Merlin began and paused, not at all looking happy with the idea. “ _I need to go. There's a lot that I don't understand, and I need to go home to see what I can understand. That means though that I have to leave for the Spirit Realm. I'll be leaving Yugi alone for a while._ ”

“And you're worried something will happen while you're away,” Yami guessed. Merlin nodded. “I'm sure it will be fine. I'll certainly do my best to look after him, and I'm sure his friends will do the same.”

“ _How do I know I can trust him around you though?_ ” Merlin growled a little, making Yugi wince a little. Yami met the Dark Magician's challenging eyes without flinching.

“I suppose you don't,” Yami replied. “I can promise you though that I don't mean any harm to him or any other human for that matter. Even if I don't know who I am, I know that much about myself.”

“ _And how do you plan on protecting him if you have to?_ ” Merlin asked. “ _Are you going to keep playing those Shadow Games then?_ ”

“Of course not,” Yami instantly replied. “Shadow Games are far too dangerous. They're used only as a last resort. I do know magic. I assume you can sense that I am a powerful spell caster? Yugi is as well, however unlike Yugi, I won't hold back from attacking. If push comes to shove I can use magic to get him out of a situation.”

Merlin paused a moment. He certainly could sense that Yami was powerful. It was also evident in the way he held himself and spoke. He was full of confidence, but not arrogance. The boy knew his limits and well. The fact that something as dangerous as a Shadow Game was a “last resort” still made him a little nervous, knowing that he could play and lose a game. However he was glad to know that it was a last resort and not something that he would use simply because he could.

Yugi and Yami both looked at the Dark Magician, waiting for his verdict. Would he be alright with leaving Yugi alone with Yami and his friends for a while? Certainly Yugi knew he might get picked on more with his Partner suddenly missing, and there was no doubt that Merlin was greatly worried about all of this as well. However Yami's eyes were full of sincerity. Merlin found himself believing that he could trust him, as much as his mind was telling him not to.

“ _Fine,_ ” he said. “ _I'm trusting him to you. Don't let him get hurt. I'll return as soon as I can._ ”

“I will guard him,” Yami promised again.

“ _Sorry Yugi,_ ” Merlin said. “ _I'll be back._ ”

He wasn't sure if the boy could hear him or not, but he quickly left the room to go to a place where he could easily enter the Spirit Realm without causing too much of a fuss. He certainly didn't want to make things any more messy than it already was for Yugi. Yami watched after him for a moment then jumped as the cell phone began to ring again. He reached for it out of instinct (since he was using Yugi's body) and answered the call.

“Hello?” he said. There was a pause.

“Yug?” came Joey's voice over the line. Yugi face palmed. Great timing. He hoped Yami would know what to say to not sound too strange. “You alright? You sound different.”

“Yeah I'm fine,” Yami replied easily. “Why? What's wrong?”

“I don't know,” Joey replied. “Anzu was angry and called me, something about you hanging up on her?”

“Oh that,” Yami sighed. “Yeah grandpa wanted me for something. He needed me to move some boxes for him. It's kind of annoying actually, it's not like I'm much taller than him.” Yugi couldn't help but smile a little in amusement. Well, he didn't sound much like him, but Yami had certainly seemed to pick up a lot of their culture through Yugi, even if he didn't remember his own.

“Well,” Joey said. “You might want to call her back. She's talking about having another meeting over something, not sure what though. Anyway, are you sure you're okay? You don't sound like yourself.”

“I guess,” Yami replied. He shook his head though Joey couldn't see it. “Forget it, I'll tell you about it later. Don't worry, I'll call her back.”

“Alright, take care man,”

“Bye,”

Yami hung up the phone and looked at the device now in his hand kind of perplexed. It was obvious that the tiny machine confused him greatly. He gave Yugi a pleading glance for help that Yugi couldn't help but start laughing at. Yami paused a moment, surprised to hear the sound. But then he couldn't help but smile as well. Somehow Yugi's laughter made him forget that he was so stressed out for a few seconds. He could see why everyone wanted to look out for him so much. He was just one of those people who uplifted you.

He was saved from having to figure out how to dial Anzu on account that the phone began ringing, displaying her name and number on the front. With a sigh he answered it and held it to his ear, though slightly away from his face. He was glad he had though. She soon began yelling angrily into it, making him wince.

“YUGI MOTO IF YOU HANG UP ON ME AGAIN I'M GOING TO KILL YOU,” she cried.

“ _ **It'll be fine,**_ ” Yugi told Yami in the same disembodied style of voice that he usually used. “ _ **Just let her simmer down a bit.**_ ”

Yami decided that this was probably the best course of action and just sat there quietly for a while. He could practically hear Anzu steaming. He let her for a few moments before returning the phone to his ear, wondering what he could say to sound like Yugi. He couldn't end up giving himself away now of all times.

“Oh sorry,” Anzu suddenly said. “I didn't mean to explode at you like that. Did I scare you?” The thought of the girl did honestly scare Yami a bit. What kind of woman was she?

“A-A little,” he replied. “But uh, I'll be fine.” Now it was Anzu's turn to pause.

“Your voice sounds different,” she said.

“Really?” Yami asked a little nervously. “Maybe it's because of the phone?”

“Hm,” she said, just kind of accepting his explanation. “I guess it must be. Anyway, we should really meet up somewhere. I feel like things are getting crazy and we need to have an idea what's going on.”

“Yeah you're probably right,” Yami replied.

“So,” Anzu continued. “How about tomorrow after school? We can meet at the game shop, is that okay with you?” Yami glanced to Yugi, who nodded.

“I don't see why not,” he replied. “That'll work if everyone else can make it.”

“Alright,” Anzu replied. “We'll see you later then. Bye.”

“See you,”

With that Yami sighed and dropped the phone onto the desk again. He turned to look at Yugi with a completely confused and almost terrified face. Yugi couldn't help but feel a little bad for him. He had little to no idea what any of this way, and could only barley pass himself off as Yugi. It wasn't looking good for keeping his secret. And then there was all the poor boy's confusion about whatever the heck the cell phone actually was.

“I hope no one else calls,” he sighed quietly.

The Millennium Puzzle flashed again, and Yugi found himself with his head in his hands. Yami was now standing behind him again, and he had returned to his own body. He sighed and sat up, then paused as he looked out the window. Down the street was a strange man, wearing a long tan robe and a white turban on his head. His eyes were blue, but they seemed strangely dead. His skin was dark, and around his neck was a large and strange golden key. Yugi jumped as he saw the man meet his own gaze and pause. Yami moved closer and peered out at the stranger over Yugi's shoulder.

“ _ **A Millennium Item?**_ ” Yami asked quietly.

The strange man only added to their confusion by pausing and looking over Yugi's shoulder directly at Yami. They all sat that way, looking at each other, waiting. Yugi felt a strange urge to go speak with the man. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't get the feeling that he was being very intimidating, or in fact meant to be scaring him at all. There was something watchful in his gaze. Ignoring his usual impulse to hide from sight, he shoved the phone into his pocket and turned, quickly running out of the room and down the stairs. For the second time that day he ran straight past his grandfather without saying a word. He went outside and paused, quickly looking around.

There was no one. He couldn't see the man at all. He was just about to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing when Yami pointed over his shoulder. He spotted the man slipping silently away down an alley way. Yugi ran off to pursue him, not entirely sure why. Maybe the Millennium Puzzle was calling him to this man? Either way he was off in hot pursuit, trying to catch up.

He followed him down several alley ways, dashing quickly to try and catch him. He was always just out of reach, at the edge of his sight passing from view again. Yugi realized nervously that they were slowly being led towards the docks, a part of town that was almost always abandoned unless a huge shipment came in. Domino City was just a small little town now after all, though it had big plans for extensions and expansion. However now it was just a normal, sleepy little town. Only for now though. Yugi realized that with his Millennium Puzzle, Domino City was about to be put on the map. He didn't doubt that.

Finally though, as they reached the water, Yugi paused and looked up. Yami, just behind him, also paused to see the stranger. The man was simply standing there watching the boy, not speaking at all. Unsure what else to do, Yugi finally approached the man. Slowly he looked up, and his eyes narrowed, though little expression touched his face.

“You played a Shadow Game,” the man said, a little anger in his voice. “That is dangerous. Don't you know what could have happened?”

“Yeah uh,” Yugi said. “I kind of gathered it was bad.”

“I wasn't talking to you,” the man said, glancing at Yugi. “I was talking to the shadow that stalks you.”

“ _ **Ah so you can see me,**_ ” Yami replied. “ _ **I thought as much. What is it you want then?**_ ”

The man's eyes only seemed to narrow a little as he looked at the boy closely. He didn't seem very happy about this whole situation. In fact he looked downright dangerous. However he reached forward and laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder, spinning the boy around to face Yami as he talked to him. Apparently he was too angry to care that he'd look really insane just talking to thin air. Yugi just blinked in confusion.

“Do you not care what could happen to the boy?” he asked. “You're putting his life in danger, even if there is none of yours to waste left.”

“ _ **I know exactly what's at stake,**_ ” Yami replied, crossing his arms and glaring at the man. “ _ **I wouldn't have done it if there had been another choice. Why on earth would I want to kill anyone?**_ ”

This seemed to surprise the man, who just watched Yami for a moment. However when he met Yami's unflinching gaze he found nothing apparently bad about him. Slowly he stepped back and released Yugi's shoulder. Yugi shivered, thinking that it was strange that he was so cold. He stepped away from him and turned back to face the stranger, who had turned to watch the light dancing off the water. His eyes remained expressionless, but he frowned a little quietly.

“Sorry for asking,” Yugi said. “But who are you?”

“You may call me Shadi,” he replied, then turned to look at the boy. “You should be honored. You are the first living person to ever hear my real name.”

“Oh,” Yugi said awkwardly. “Okay, thanks.”

Yugi wasn't sure if he should be worried about that sentence or not. What was that supposed to mean? He had killed everyone who had ever learned his name? It was soon answered to him though as Yami continued to watch him for a moment.

“ _ **I thought so,**_ ” Yami said. “ _ **You're dead. That explains why you could see me.**_ ”

“Indeed I am,” Shadi replied, looking towards Yami again. Yugi felt oddly out of place in a conversation between two dead guys. “It seems I had mistaken your identity for another. You will have to forgive me for that.”

“ _ **Who could you possibly mistake someone like me for?**_ ” Yami asked, raising an eyebrow. “ _ **I can tell you know exactly what Millennium Items are.**_ ”

“You are not the only spirit to live within a Millennium Item,” Shadi said darkly.

Now everyone fell silent, looking at each other quietly. There was nothing said for a good long while as the two dead men watched each other silently. Yugi just kind of stood there awkwardly. First he had taken place in a Shadow Game, then Merlin had left, and now he was talking to dead people. He wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to feel about this whole thing. However Shadi was apparently done talking, and quickly turned to leave.

“I will be going now,” he said. “It is unwise for the dead to linger longer than this in the world of the living. You may not have that choice, but I must go.” He paused a moment and looked over his shoulder at Yami. “Know this. You are not the only one who does not remember. I too cannot remember my own past.”

With that, the man tapped the strange golden object on his chest and disappeared as if in waves of heat even though it was only about seventy degrees outside. Yugi and Yami just watched after him for a long moment, Yugi looking confused and Yami frowning thoughtfully. The more the found out about all of this, the more confusing it got. Yugi glanced over at the Egyptian.

“You're hoping no one else calls,” Yugi said with a nervous smile. “but I'm hoping I won't be seeing anymore ghosts any time soon.”

“ _ **Let's go back,**_ ” Yami said darkly. “ _ **I don't really get it, but I don't want to be out here either. We'll think more on it when we go back.**_ ”

Yugi realized how nervous Yami really was, and he knew he was just as nervous. Yugi turned and walked back towards the house, knowing that Yami was following him silently. Everything had gotten strange the instant he'd solved that puzzle, and it had only been a day! He certainly didn't want to see what else they were going to run into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you guys think of that chapter? It took way too long to actually get up, but I finally finished it. Were you guys expecting it to be Shadi? From what I saw in the comments, that was the general consensus. I wasn't really trying to hide it.  
> While Merlin is away is when Yami and Yugi will be working together more, and their friends will begin to suspect that there's something else at work here. I mean, it's kind of hard to miss Yami's personality isn't it? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.


	5. The Sky God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go after forever with chapter five. Sorry it’s taking me so long, but as I’ve said in other Author’s Notes, I’ve been depressed here lately. I’m not suicidal depressed, but it still makes it really hard to get anything done. After some kind words and encouragement from other people here in the community though I’ve managed to start working (ever so slowly) on other stories.  
> Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far.

Yugi tossed and turned that night, unable to sleep for a long time. Yami seemed to have disappeared silently into the Millennium Puzzle during the night, probably to make Yugi feel more at ease, give him some privacy, or sort out his own thoughts. Eventually though Yugi’s own exhaustion won out, and he found himself drifting to sleep. The dreams that he found weren’t normal though, and he soon felt another mind join his as his bedroom changed to become a desert landscape.

The shifting sands below him weren’t a normal color, almost golden though it was obviously night out now. There were now stars overhead except for three, one that was red, one that was blue, and one that was gold. Yugi glanced over and noticed that Yami was also here, also appearing just as confused as Yugi felt. The two drifted down to the sands below them, landing on the ever shifting landscape. The ground didn’t feel like shifting sands though, more like he had stepped off onto rock or some other unmoving surface.

The two quickly looked around, seeing what appeared to be large pyramids in the distance. They looked almost like the pyramids of Giza, except these looked brand new, and he was fairly sure they were located pretty close the Nile. There was no river in sight though, and no Spinx either to give them some sort of idea of where they were. Everything looked strange and out of the ordinary. Feeling lost, he turned to Yami.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“ _ **I don’t know,**_ ” came the reply of the Egyptian teen. “ _ **I feel like I’ve been here before...but I don’t know where we are right now.**_ ”

The Egyptian teen began casting the area a quick glance around, obviously unsure where to look. However he quickly looked up towards the stars above them, his eyes seemed to narrow a little as they landed on one star in particular, the red one. He closed his eyes, silent for a long time. Then he began to say something. It was hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure he even remembered correctly what to say, but he continued to speak anyway. Soon his voice was full of confidence, as if he completely remembered what to say, even without his memories.

This wasn’t what surprised him however. What did surprise him, was that he just somehow knew the boy was speaking Ancient Egyptian, the same language lost long ago with the hieroglyphics that they were written as. Yugi was a timid boy from Japan that should not have been able to understand a word the boy was speaking. Yet to him, the words were as clear as day in Japanese so that he could understand. Was this the Millennium Puzzle’s doing?

“ _ **God of the skies,**_ ” Yami said. “ _ **who brings rains and wind, who**_ _ **takes the form of the mighty and untamed reaches above, please hear my plea. Come to us in our time of need, and hear us as we call out to you. Give us your wisdom**_ _ **and strength**_ _ **!**_ ”

For a long while there was no reply, though Yugi certainly wasn’t expecting to hear one. Then to his surprise, a light breeze started to blow, neither hot nor cold. The sands around them began to whirl around them, making it hard to see anything farther away from them than the other was. Yugi quickly shielded his eyes, unnerved and wondering what “god” Yami was even trying to talk to. A red light shone down from above them, and another voice sounded.

 _You do not have all the necessary components to call me,_ a voice like the wind replied. _However humans no longer worship me as they once did, and for you I will always make an exception._

A roar sounded above them like that of a beast and a bird mixed, one that made Yugi’s blood freeze at the sound. What was this? A Duel Spirit? He looked up in surprise as something descended from the clouds, a long red dragon with tiny legs. His underbelly was black, and his wings looked far too small. His body almost seemed to be constantly sliding when he appeared, the ivory fangs and claws on his legs and wing tips making him seem even more terrifying. In his forehead was a blue gem set into the wickedly pointed horns. Spines covered its whole body, as well as ivory claws coming out of its neck like a collar. It had glowing yellow eyes, and two large fangs jutting out of the bottom of its mouth. However it also had two mouths, one that was closed, and one that was open menacingly to reveal all of its fangs and the dark red gullet within.

Yugi almost ran when he saw the massive Duel Spirit, absolutely terrified of the big red dragon. However Yami quickly laid a calming hand on his shoulder, which kept the timid boy from trying to evade a creature that could have probably just eaten him whether he ran or not anyway. The dragon came to rest, floating in the air a good long ways above them. The dragon then, to Yugi’s surprise, let out a gentle purr towards the two boys and a chuckle.

 _Ah,_ the creature said. _So you must be the one who solved the puzzle. I haven’t seen this face in a long time. Tell me, child, what is the name you go by now?_

“ _ **Yami,**_ ” the dead boy said. The dragon seemed to consider.

 _I see,_ he said. _Still, if this boy has managed to solve the puzzle, well it means that events are now beginning to move. It is the same thing that brought both of you here, to the Spirit Realm. Now we shall see what your future holds. And you, boy?_

“M-My name is Yugi,” Yugi squeaked out. The god just purred again.

 _There is no need to fear, Yugi,_ he said calmly. _I will not harm you. In fact, I know that the time has come for me to give you a gift._

“A gift?” Yugi asked, thoroughly confused. “For what? And why me?”

The dragon moved suddenly, turning its huge head to look down at Yugi. His eyes weren’t severe or even judging him, and they were in fact very pitying. Even so, it made Yugi extremely uncomfortable. After all, what were you supposed to say to an all powerful creature that had obviously at one point been thought to be a god? The creature watched him for a long moment, before letting out a gentle purr and nudging the boy’s shoulder. Unsure what he wanted, he patted the god’s nose nervously. Yami on the other hand, smiled and stroked the god’s enormous nose.

 _You truly know so little of what you must face,_ the dragon said mournfully. _And for that I am sorry. However, know that I will guide you with what information I can. As soon as you completed that puzzle, you sealed your fate into the role you must play, Yugi. So now I will give you a rare gift, an object that may one day allow you to summon me._

“S-Summon you?” Yugi gasped.

 _Indeed,_ the creature replied. _Creatures like me need an anchor to bring us to the human world. Other Duel Spirits can make contracts with humans, becoming Partners and Contracts, however this is more complex._

“People can summon more than their Partners?” Yugi gasped in surprise. He’d heard rumors of it, but had never actually seen any proof. Most people just wrote it off as bored teens making up wild stories.

 _If they are powerful enough,_ the dragon replied. _They certainly can. This can be done when humans get lost in the Spirit World, or Spirits get lost in the human world. However to summon Ancient Spirits like us, creatures often thought of as gods, we need something more powerful. Usually large landmarks will do, or objects or other things infused with enough magical energy that they can be given to humans and safely used to bring us to your world. In this case, I have chosen an object. However, summoning will not come so easily._

The dragon turned its large body, raising a clawed hand and dropping a gold band into Yugi’s hands. He caught it and looked down in surprise, noticing that there was a very life like picture of the god etched into it, as well as hieroglyphics surrounding the whole thing. A single red stone set in the center of it, but it seemed to be rather lack luster and didn’t shine like it looked like it should. Yugi blinked as he looked down at it, and Yami reached out to touch it.

“ _ **This is...**_ ” he said thoughtfully.

 _I am sorry,_ Slifer said gently. _You cannot remember it, but yes, you have seen it before. The golden fan on your arm was used in much the same way. However, you will not remember. Yami, you must know, even now, that you must not remember. One day we cannot avoid it, but it is the only thing for now that is keeping a great evil at bay. But you may take comfort in knowing that you are the one who chose to lose your own memories, and even to die, to keep these secrets safe._

“ _ **I did?**_ ” Yami asked slowly, looking both upset and almost relieved in a way.

 _You did,_ the god replied. _Wear this band Yugi. It will keep you linked to me, and I may be able to guide you from your dreams and bring you again to this world. You will have to complete a test, one that you will not know. However if you pass, the gem will light up and the band will allow you to summon me in times of great need._

“A test?” Yugi asked, quickly sliding the band on like the god asked. It slid onto his wrist and sat there silently, but it surprised him how he could get it on so easily, yet it wouldn’t fall off.

 _Indeed,_ the god replied, sounding amused. _Do not worry however. It should not be difficult for a brilliant mind like yours. You did after all, solve the Millennium Puzzle, when none before you could. You are this Puzzle’s protector. With it, you can access Yami’s own powers and abilities, and it links you to this world far more than you know._

Yugi looked up at the god, letting the long sleeve of his school uniform fall over it. The band was hidden nicely, and unless someone grabbed his wrist they wouldn’t even be able to notice that it was there at all. It certainly was a strange piece of jewelry to say the least. Still, if anyone knew what this thing truly was, they’d probably be instantly able to tell where he had gotten it. There were still things he didn’t understand, and slightly emboldened by the god’s apparent trust, Yugi frowned.

“But why?” he asked. “Aren’t there other Egyptian gods? Slifer Obelisk and Ra, right? Why of all people, did one of them choose me.”

 _I did not choose you,_ the god replied. _By completing that puzzle, you chose yourself for the task. Yes, there are other Egyptian gods, but only those who have proven themselves worthy will be able to command them. In time, the other two who can summon those gods will appear. When that time comes, then you will truly see the extent of this unholy war of ours._

“That’s why I don’t understand,” Yugi said. “I’m timid. I hate fighting. Why would anyone want me to be involved in a war?”

 _That is something you must come to understand,_ the god said quietly. _I cannot help. Go. Take care of each other. I can keep you no longer. The day has come._

With that, the dragon spread its wings and roared, sending wind and sand flying everywhere. Surprised, the two boys shielded their eyes and waited for the dust to clear. To Yugi’s surprise, he felt himself jump awake, in his pajamas, and look around his room. From his desk, the puzzle flashed and a just as confused Yami appeared. Yugi quickly sat up, pulling up the sleeve of his long sleeve pajamas. There, on his wrist, was the band.

“So it wasn’t just a dream,” Yugi said, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the knowledge.

“ _ **It would seem so,**_ ” Yami said, sounding troubled. “ _ **Still, this mystery deepens. I was able to call an Egyptian god to speak with us, one of the three true Egyptian gods. They guard the tomb of the Pharaohs and the lines of the pharaohs themselves. Why I still have this knowledge, but nothing else...it bothers me. If I truly did choose to forget everything, then why would I allow very specific memories to remain intact?**_ ”

Yugi paused and looked up in surprise at his strange friend, feeling suddenly very worried. He had no idea what was going on, and now he was getting more and more hints that something else is certainly going wrong. Yugi wanted to help him, but he was completely unsure how to. He hardly knew the boy, who didn’t even have his own memories. How was he able to summon a god in the first place, and one that said it would make an “exception” for him.

Yugi glanced down at the golden piece on his arm. So what was this? Why did he have it? Why did he need it? And what was Slyfer’s test. He’d only ever heard stories of the mythical red dragon god of Egypt, Slyfer the Sky Dragon. It was one of three Egyptian gods said to have been originally split from one single creature. Though there were many immortal beings and such that the Egyptians had once worshiped as god, there were only three “true” gods. These were powerful Duel Spirits who had existed long before the Spirit World itself, creatures of such great power that they were worshiped as gods and guarded humanity. These so called gods also took control of something in the world, controlling it and bringing blessings or disasters as they saw fit.

Slyfer was the guardian deity of the skies, who would bring rains or scorching winds. There was also the creature known as the Winged Dragon of Ra, who controlled the fires of the sun. While the creature could not directly influence the sun’s movements, its wings were said to blot out the sun, its raging tempers were said to produce sandstorms and fiery wrath was said to set the very world ablaze.

Finally there was Obelisk the Tormentor, who was a creature that controlled the earth, bringing forth waters where there were none, or causing the sands to suck people under. It was also however a god said to punish those severely for stepping into the tombs of kings, especially thieves and other such creatures. These three creatures were said to have been sleeping since Ancient Times, long before the reign of the unnamed pharaoh.

The very thought of that made Yugi freeze and glance over towards Yami. Yami didn’t know his own name, and like the pharaoh he could summon the gods, or at least one of them. What did that mean for Yugi, having him around? And what exactly were all of his powers that Yugi now had access to? He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to find out, or even if Yami knew what those were. With a frown though, he decided to turn to his strange dead ally.

“Yami,” he said. “Do you think its possible that you could be the Unnamed Pharaoh?”

“ _ **What?**_ ” Yami asked in surprise. “ _ **What makes you think that?**_ ”

“Well,” Yugi said, thinking carefully. “You don’t know your own name, and you only remember certain things though nothing else. You also asked questions about the tomb of the Unnamed Pharaoh in that Shadow Game, and you were sealed inside the Millennium Puzzle, which was deep within the Pharaoh’s tomb. Plus, you could call an Egyptian god, which means you can’t just be any regular old Egyptian.”

“ _ **So you think I sealed my memories,**_ ” Yami said, blinking in surprise. “ _ **and made everyone forget about me, even my own people, to protect something?**_ ”

“I do,” Yugi said, nodding and looking convinced. “Just think about it. I’m supposed to protect this Millennium Item, and with it some of your powers become mine, even if I don’t know how to use it. But if all the items are gathered together in a certain way, calamity will fall. What if you made yourself forget about it to help postpone this?”

“ _ **But I don’t know why I would,**_ ” Yami hummed thoughtfully, glancing at Yugi. “ _ **Still, I think you may be right...no, I’m almost certain you’re right. If that’s the case, we need to be even more careful than ever.**_ ”

“Right,” Yugi said grimly.

“ _ **Though Yugi, won’t you be late for school soon?**_ ”

Yugi let out a gasp as he realized the pharaoh was right and quickly started running around the room, getting ready for school and grabbing his bag. With all this talk about protecting mythical items and saving the world, he’d almost forgotten that he was still just a normal kid living a largely normal life. Yami just chuckled and followed silently after Yugi as always as he dashed down the steps, grabbing a piece of toast and dashing out the door with a hurried goodbye.

Yugi couldn’t help but be a bit relieved that he had managed to avoid his grandfather seeing the Millennium Puzzle yet. His grandfather had been an archeologist for a long time, and had even found the Puzzle itself in the Tomb of the Unnamed Pharaoh. He’d given it to Yugi, thinking there was no way he could ever complete it. If anyone could tell exactly what this thing was, what it did, and who was inside of it, it would be his grandfather. Or maybe he’d given it to Yugi in the case that he ever completed it, that it would be safer with him. Yugi wanted to put off telling him about the strange object as long as he could.

The metal object was heavy and clanked hard against his chest as he ran, making him wince a little. The cord was sturdy and strong, so he wasn’t afraid of it falling off, and he definitely wasn’t letting it out of his sight. He didn’t know what it really meant, or why he had it, but he was the protector of this Millennium Item. He knew he couldn’t let the wrong person get their hands on it, or it would bring forth the end of days. There was a reason the Ancient Egyptians had broken it into pieces, the same reason that Yami had chosen to forget everything so that he could protect the world. Whatever was going on, Yugi knew that he had to keep this object safe.

After a while, he was forced to stop and catch his breath. His short little legs couldn’t really carry him that far, and he was rather out of shape. He looked up though at the sound of an odd growl. He’d heard the creature before, and he knew what it was and whose partner it was, however the creature had always seemed to have ignored him. Everyone always seemed to have ignored him though, and her Partner was rather famous for his family’s company. What made him look up though was the amount of surprise in her growl he heard.

Beside him was a tall young woman with long white hair that hung down nearly to the floor, even though it was braided into a thick mass behind her head. Her bangs were swept into the right side of her face, and her eyes were a bright blue color. She wore a white dress and white heels, and she walked confidently in them. Yugi remembered her from school, a Blue Eyes White Dragon Spirit named Eirwen. To his surprise as he straightened up, he found her staring with wide eyes at the Millennium Item on his chest.

Yugi immediately felt a sense of unease. Sure, the Millennium Items were fairly well known, but the Millennium Puzzle hadn’t been completed in thousands of years. Why did she seem to instantly recognize it, and why did she seem to know what it was? The surprise left her face and she looked up at Yugi, seeming to notice how unnerved he was. She smiled and started purring, not that this really put Yugi at ease either.

“Eirwen?” a male voice called, sounding slightly annoyed. “Where did you go now?”

Seto Kaiba,a tall man who held himself with an important and confident bearing and one of Yugi’s classmates, walked around the corner and abruptly froze in surprise as he saw Yugi. His hair was brown and cut short, and his eyes were blue as well as icy. His eyes slowly seemed to move down Yugi’s chest, until they landed on the Millennium Puzzle, now completed, resting on Yugi’s chest. His eyes widened too in surprise, though he quickly seemed to regain his composure. He frowned thoughtfully at Yugi as he walked over, crossing his arms and staring at the timid teen. Yugi quickly looked away. Kaiba could be rather intimidating.

“Yugi Moto, right?” he asked. Yugi just sort of nodded. “Don’t you have a partner? The Dark Magician? Where is he, anyway?”

“He, uh,” Yugi said quietly. “Had to go check some things out.” Kaiba’s eyes narrowed.

“The King’s Magician was worried?” Kaiba mumbled, sounding unnerved, and not seeming to care if Yugi heard him or not. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”

Yugi had to admit it didn’t sound good. Dark Magicians were known for being wise and helpful to humans, so the fact that one felt unnerved enough to leave their Partner behind to try and check on things meant that things didn’t bode well. Yugi looked up again as Eirwen made a concerned noise in the back of her throat, turning to her Partner. Kaiba continued to frown for a long while, before glancing at Yugi. Yugi subconsciously tugged on his sleeve as if to hide the band in his arm. Luckily, they didn’t seem to notice.

“ _ **This boy seems familiar to me,**_ ” Yami said thoughtfully though he knew Yugi wouldn’t respond to him now. “ _ **Perhaps I met him in my past life? They say people can be reincarnated throughout the ages. I feel no ill will from him though, only concern. I sense he does not mean us harm. But tread lightly, Yugi.**_ ”

“Hey,” Kaiba suddenly said, making Yugi jump and look up at him with wide eyes. “Its really dangerous to be walking around alone right now. There are rumors of Shadow Spirits appearing all over the place. Since you don’t have your Partner, and I’m feeling generous today, I’ll give you a ride to school. You can stay near me and Eirwen today. I know its a big honor and all for a nobody like you to hang out with someone like me, but I don’t want you to make a big deal out of it.”

“W-What?” Yugi asked. “B-But I...”

“We’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up, Moto,” Kaiba said with a slight growl.

Unsure what else to do, just meekly ducked his head and followed after Kaiba as he turned and began to make his way around the corner and towards a long, fancy black car. Eirwen just smiled and purred, following after both boys. Her eyes were highly alert however as she began looking carefully for any signs of danger towards either of them. Yugi paused outside the car door as the driver let Kaiba in and he informed him that he would be taking Yugi to school today. The driver bowed and motioned for Yugi to get in the car.

Yugi had never had anything so fancy in his life, and he was completely unsure how he was supposed to react to something like that. Kaiba just impatiently motioned for Yugi to get in the car, so he quickly leaped into it, unsure what he was supposed to do or say at this point. Eirwen soon got into the car, gently pushing Yugi over to the middle seat, and purred to the timid boy as she sat in the other window seat in the back.

Yugi stared at the floor as the door was closed and the driver got into the car, beginning to pull off down the street. Yami, curled up in the floorboard and taking up no space, laid his hand on Yugi’s kne as comfortingly as he could. Yugi was pretty sure he was the only one who could actually feel Yami’s touch like this, let alone see him. The air where the boy sat still felt cold to the touch, making Yugi shudder a little involuntarily.

Both Kaiba and Eirwen turned their knowing eyes to the boy, giving him the impression, once again, that they knew far more than they were letting on. And probably far more than they should. It made Yugi wonder how on earth they knew, and what they knew at that.

What he did know though, was that this day was getting stranger and stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter five. It was mostly just to kind of start setting up some other events (one of which being Kaiba and Joey’s rivalry that’s seen through Eyes of Darkness and a little in Dragon Pact as well). The other of which is the involvement of the Three Egyptian gods, and eventually their form of all three together. Both of those will be farther towards the end of the story. And unlike Dragon Pact and Eyes of Darkness, this will probably end up being shorter than the other stories for the simple fact that it has one of the least complicated plots of all three that exist so far in the series.  
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. I’ll try to update this story and Eyes of Darkness more regularly. However Dragon Pact tends to dictate most of my attention when I do have the energy to update. It was my first Fan fiction. Its kind of my baby at this point.


	6. There Are Too Many Dragons!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes chapter six. This story is one that I feel like is taking me such a long time because I’m dreading finding ways to set up the things that already exist in my other stories with the same characters. Because I have to start building up to those points in the story line and creating what already exists, then it makes it harder for me to kick my butt into gear and actually start writing these chapters.  
> Either way, here we go, so I hope you enjoy.

Yugi just sat quietly in the car as it drove down the road. Luckily for him, it looked like Kaiba wasn’t really in the mood for talking either. He just crossed his arms and continued to glare thoughtfully out the car window. Yami just shrugged when he saw Yugi glance at him, unable to help him either way. He knew Yugi really wasn’t one for talking to people, something he knew he was going to have to change pretty quickly. Though, with Eirwen being unable to say anything and Kaiba being pretty damn intimidating, he could understand why Yugi was so quiet.

Soon enough they found themselves in front of what Yami was fairly certain was where Yugi went to school. He had limited connection to Yugi, but he had enough to recognize the building, just as he knew Yugi would be able to recognize things he knew from his past with relative ease, even if Yami couldn’t actually remember where he knew them from. The connection between them was steadily growing stronger as time went on. Kaiba glanced up as he noticed Yugi’s usual friends standing in front of the building and looking around worriedly.

“Hm,” he said aloud. “Friends of yours, Yugi? Come on. We’re here anyway.”

Kaiba quickly got out of the car, making Yugi’s friends turn to look at him more out of instinct than anything else. Eirwen exited the car out of the other side, quick to jump out. She shot Slash a glare when he growled at her, but even the male dragon backed off when he saw it. It was no secret that female dragons were far more vicious and dangerous than males. Kaiba turned to glance back at the car, crossing his arms and giving Yugi a clear indication that he wanted him to step out of the car. Slowly, the tiny teen exited the car, dwarfed by Seto’s shadow.

Upon seeing him, several gasps of relief went up from the group. Joey however snarled and quickly leaped forward, jumping in front of his timid friend and throwing an arm out as if to protect him. He glared at Kaiba with such intensity that Yugi was surprised that Kaiba didn’t seemed moved by this. Eirwen, upon seeing Joey’s threatening glare towards her partner, hissed, making Slash quickly leap forward to protect him as well. Yugi looked around with wide eyes, unsure what he was supposed to do at this point.

“J-Joey,” Anzu gasped.

“C-Calm down man,” Tristan added, looking unsure what to do if a fight between two dragons broke out here before school.

“What were you doing?” Joey hissed. “Picking on Yugi? I ought to teach you a lesson, you rich brat! No one messes with my pal, got it?” Kaiba’s eyes flashed a moment, then he laughed rather humorlessly.

“You must be Wheeler,” Kaiba said. “I’d heard you could be rather...dim witted. Still, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I was just helping your friend here, seeing how he was rather...alone at a time like this.”

“Hey,” Joey spat. “Who are you calling dim witted? There’s no way that Yugi was alone! He’s got Merlin, unless you did something to him, you punk!”

“I didn’t,” Kaiba said, finally seeming to be getting a little peeved about Joey’s accusations. Yugi could see his icy eyes growing harder. “However, if you want to make something out of this, Wheeler, we can settle this in a match.”

Yugi gulped. Things were getting pretty serious now. He had no idea why Joey and Kaiba had just seemed to rub each other the wrong way, especially since they’d never really even talked to each other until right now. He really didn’t want to have people starting a fight because of him, and he didn’t know how many people there really were around here who were looking to get their hands on this Millennium item. To his slight surprise, he felt a slight spark across a mental link with someone’s mind. It wasn’t one he’d ever felt before, but he knew that he recognized it. This time he wasn’t surprised by the sharp mental tug he felt, finding himself standing outside of his own body.

“Bring it on ya-”

“Joey, enough,” came a powerful voice that made even Kaiba and the two dragons jump in surprise to hear. They all turned to see Yami standing there, his flaming eyes daring anyone to challenge him. “All four of you, stop this now. There’s no need for such childish actions. There are far better things you could be doing with your time.”

“Y-Yug?” Joey asked in surprise, using the nickname he had given his timid friend but rarely used. Yugi realized just how surprised he was. Not that he could blame him. Yugi would have never challenge anyone in this way by himself.

Kaiba seemed to jump as if a cold wind had just blown past him, looking closely at Yami who was now possessing Yugi’s body. The surprise had left his eyes, and they now narrowed. Again, Yugi was pretty sure that he knew a lot more than he was actually letting on at this point. Yami clearly didn’t miss this either, seeing how Yugi could now briefly sense this across their steadily growing mental link. Was this how he was supposed to gain Yami’s powers? Yami turned his eyes instead to Yugi’s very surprised friends.

“There’s no need for any of this,” he said in a clear and strong voice. The two dragons quickly dipped their heads to him. “If you must know, Merlin left for the Spirit Realm because he said he sensed something. That’s why I was walking to school alone. I got up late, and ended up running into Kaiba, who offered me a ride to school. Is that a problem?”

“N-No I guess not b-but,” Joey said with wide eyes.

“Good,” he said. “Then I don’t know about all of you, but I’m going to class.”

Yami brushed past both Kaiba and Joey, as well as all of Yugi’s friends, who could only just blink after him in surprise. Yugi didn’t really mind though. He didn’t know why Kaiba seemed to know so much, but he’d rather not deal with it at the moment. Then there was the fact that it would just look weird if he transformed again right in front of his friends and ended up shorter and more mousey again. At least Yami’s confident and scathing eyes quickly made everyone retreat again down the hallway. He wasn’t entirely sure how he could just explain that away at this point, but he was glad when Yami sat down in his desk without having to be directed, crossing his arms and dropping Yugi’s bag next to the desk. He continued to glare straight ahead until he was sure no one was looking.

That’s when Yugi returned to his own body, leaving Yami thoughtfully staring out the window. Yugi just pulled out his notebook and pencil case, unsure what else to do at this point. He didn’t look up as he noticed the others coming in the room, though he did notice Kaiba and Eirwen were watching him much more closely than before. He pretended to read over some notes from before, but he didn’t want to look up at his friends. He didn’t want to see how they had reacted to Yami. Were they scared of him now? What was he supposed to do to try and explain things to them? Was it even possible to explain it to them at all?

Class started soon after, but Yugi wasn’t really paying attention to it like he usually was. He just felt distracted and more lost than ever before. What was he supposed to do now? Pretend everything was normal and nothing had changed? That wasn’t exactly an option anymore. Everything had been happening so quickly, he could never simply convince himself that everything was absolutely fine. He glanced up and noticed that Eirwen hadn’t seemed to take her eyes off her. He quickly looked out the window.

Yugi paused in surprise however when he saw Shadi standing in the courtyard outside the building. The man simply watched him for a long moment, his lifeless eyes never wavering. What was he doing? Trying to give him a warning? He remembered him saying something about the fact that the Millennium Puzzle wasn’t the only Millennium Item that had a spirit attached to it. Was that what he was saying? Did someone else have a Millennium Item close by? If so, who on earth could it be, and why was he warning him now?

“Yugi Moto,” a familiar voice called.

Yugi jumped, looking up in surprise. It was the young man with dark black hair and brown eyes that taught history for his class. His name was Mr. Kugarugi, and he was also an archeologist in town with the Egyptian Exhibit. Yugi hadn’t even been aware that History lessons had begun, and he was usually one to be interested in history. He was surprised that he’d been distracted for so long. However he slowly stood as other students snickered around the room, sheepishly looking up at Mr. Kugarugi, who tapped his hip and looked concerned.

“Since you weren’t listening,” he said. “Let me jog your memory. You always did seem to be the Egyptian History buff in class.” He paused, seeming to get some sort of inspiration. Most of the students however just murmured. They’d known Yugi had always gotten good grades, however they’d never known he’d been interested in Egypt. He just was easily ignored. “There are three Egyptian god monsters, the ‘True Gods’ of Egypt. They were however once one creature, a god so powerful that it split itself into three to keep its powers checked. The name of this creature isn’t well known, however if you go digging deep enough you might find mentions of it. So Yugi, do you know this god’s name?”

Yugi paused a moment, surprised. How was he supposed to know something like that? He was just a kid after all, and even if he was interested in Ancient Egypt, he’d never spent hours looking those kinds of things up like Mr. Kugarugi had. He wasn’t even sure how to begin answering the question, and the murmuring around the class told him no one else really thought it a fair question either. However, from across their mental link, Yugi sensed a thought forming in Yami’s mind. He didn’t know how, but he knew this creature’s name. Yugi paused a moment, then looked up, completely sure that he knew the name of the creature.

“Her name was The Creator of Light, Horakhty,” Yugi replied.

There was silence in the room. Mr. Kugarugi’s face was the proof anyone needed to know that Yugi had definitely known the monster’s name. But that wasn’t exactly what surprised his classmates the most. It was the fact that he had pronounced the creature’s name flawlessly, even perfectly in the same accent that would be used in Ancient Egypt. None of these kids knew this of course, however they did know that Yugi should have definitely had trouble saying the name, even if he had read about it before. Yami nodded to Yugi, indicating that he had said it correctly, however neither boy noticed how the man’s eyes landed on Yugi’s Millennium Puzzle and widened farther. However he quickly regained his composure and smiled.

“Just as I’d expect from you, Yugi,” he said. “You really do know your stuff when it comes to Ancient Egypt. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about after class, if you’d be willing. Now class, let’s continue talking about the gods of Egypt...”

Yugi sat down and glanced out the window again, noticing that Shadi wasn’t there anymore. It certainly didn’t comfort him though, and as the man continued to talk about the Egyptian gods, even Yami seemed distracted by this. What were they supposed to do after all? Believe that everything was okay now? Shadi had definitely wanted to tell them something, but he couldn’t risk just walking into the middle of school. Then there was the fact that Kaiba and Eirwen seemed to know a lot, and now Mr. Kugarugi seemed to be onto him. How many more people were really involved in all of this, anyway?

“ _ **I’m worried something more will come of this,**_ ” Yami said quietly to Yugi. “ _ **There are too many people becoming aware. I can sense that you didn’t realize this was so big, but I’m pretty sure that things are about to get bigger. Domino City might be a small town, but it won’t remain that way for very long at this rate. Still, I’m curious what Shadi wanted, and what Mr. Kugarugi wants to talk to you about.**_ ”

Yugi didn’t even try to nod his head in response to the Ancient Spirit of the Pharaoh, instead staring again down at his notebook. He quickly added a few notes about what Mr. Kugarugi was talking about, but mostly he was just getting more and more surprised at how much everyone else seemed to really know about what was going on. Soon enough though, the bell rang for lunch and everyone started passing on their way out.

He didn’t glance up at his friends as they passed, and none of them tried to say anything as they hurried out of the room. Yugi just shoved all of his supplies back into his bag, standing to make his way to the front of the room. He knew it. His friends were probably freaked out about Yami as much as Merlin was. He’d promised to keep him a secret, but it was pretty hard when he kept changing in front of people. Maybe he’d just gotten more comfortable with them? He didn’t know what was going on anymore.

As he was walking through the class room, yet another timid boy walked past him. He had white hair that stuck out at odd and sometimes severe angles as he walked. His eyes were a deep blue color, and he was really pale. He bumped into Yugi as he was passing, and he quickly smiled sheepishly at him as he began to walk out. That’s not what distracted Yugi though. He could have sworn he heard the clank of metal somewhere on him, and he got the feeling that he really unnerved Yami, even if he couldn’t see him right now.

“Sorry Yugi,” the boy, Bakura, said quietly. “I’ll watch where I’m going next time.”

“N-No its okay,” Yugi said even quieter, his wide eyes never leaving Bakura as he turned and made his way out of the room. He got the feeling that he was much more than he appeared.

“Yugi,” Mr. Kugarugi called from the front of the room, sounding far more serious than ever. Yugi jumped a little as he heard it.

“ _ **There’s no point in being afraid,**_ ” Yami said calmly. “ _ **You need to learn to become more outgoing, Yugi.**_ ”

 _That’s easy for you to say,_ Yugi thought. _You’re a freaking King of Egpyt._

Yugi just ducked his head to his teacher though and crossed the room to him, knowing that his ever severe eyes were locked on him the whole way as he walked up to the front of the room. He didn’t look angry or disappointed though, only very concerned. It was obvious what his concern was for however, especially since his eyes continued to flick towards the Millennium Item on his chest. The man managed a smile, but even Yugi could tell that it seemed largely forced. He looked far too unnerved to truly smile.

“Ah, I heard from your grandfather that you’d been working on the Millennium Puzzle,” he said. “I’m surprised to see you finished it. How long did it take?”

“A-Around eight years,” Yugi said quietly.

“Eight years huh?” the man asked. “And to think no one else has done it for thousands of years.” Yami continued to stare at the man, then turned to Yugi.

“ _ **He means something else,**_ ” he said. “ _ **I’m not psychic, though those kind of people exist. However I can read faces.**_ ” Yugi glanced towards the Pharaoh once.

“Mr. Kugarugi,” he said with more courage than he’d ever seemed to have before. “What exactly are you getting at. What are you really trying to say?”

The History teacher’s eyes seemed to widen in surprise at this, completely unprepared for a question like this. Perhaps he hadn’t been expecting Yugi to be so perceptive, especially considering he never seemed to really talk to anyone other than his closest friends. Then again, after he’d solved that puzzle everything had begun changing rapidly. The man seemed to laugh, looking a little sheepish, and turned to look at Yugi.

“When did you get so perceptive, Yugi-Kun?” he asked. “I was actually wondering if you would be interested in working with me and the professor at the museum. There are several Ancient Artifacts on display, some of which are even from the Tomb of the Unnamed Pharaoh, where that Puzzle came from. I thought since you’d already been so interested in Egyptian things, and you were obviously so bright, you might like to help out.”

“ _ **Again,**_ ” Yami said, not sounding mad or even frustrated, simply stating the fact. “ _ **He means something else.**_ ” This time, Yugi didn’t have to ask what.

“If you wanted to keep an eye on me,” Yugi said with a small smile. “You could have just said so. I know there’s something weird about this puzzle, but I really feel like I can’t let it out of my sight. But I am interested to see the exhibits before they open. I’d love to help out.”

“A-Ah,” the man said with another smile. “Good. All right then. We can talk more about that puzzle if you want there too. But we should both be leaving. I’ve got to get back to the museum, and you really need to eat lunch. See you there, around four o’clock or so?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Yugi replied with a small smile.

The man hurried out of the room, no doubt to return to this Professor and try and get a few things figured out before Yugi actually showed up. As far as he knew, the man’s name was Professor Hawkins, and he’d been a good friend of his grandfather’s when they’d both been working as archeologists on the same dig. His grandfather had been very happy to hear the exhibit would be coming here to Domino City, especially because it meant he got to see his old friend again. He was particularly excited to show Yugi the exhibits too.

Still, Yugi wasn’t entirely sure why he had agreed. He was scared what would happen if he did. Would Yami remember and somehow cause a calamity? Or did it literally have to do with all the Millennium Items? Part of it was definitely Yugi’s own excitement to see the exhibits, and part of it was a hope to understand more of what was actually going on here. As he stepped out the doorway however, he met a friendly and smiling face in the hallway.

“Sorry I was listening in, Yugi,” Bakura said with a big smile. “But I couldn’t help it. I heard something about the exhibit and got excited. My dad worked on the dig you know, and he kept sending me all sorts of stuff. Do you think I could come with you?”

“ _ **Don’t trust him,**_ ” Yami warned, a slight growl entering his voice. “ _ **He’s more than he seems.**_ ”

“I-I don’t know,” Yugi said, surprised but getting the same feeling. “You should probably ask Mr. Kugarugi if you want to. I mean, maybe he’d let you in. I can’t really make that call.”

“You’re right Yugi,” Bakura said with a sigh, smiling again quickly. “Wow, you really are smart. No wonder you’re top of the class! I’ll ask him tomorrow when he comes back.”

“Y-Yeah,” Yugi said, quickly hurrying past him and down the hall.

Yugi didn’t dare look back to see what Bakura was doing now, just feeling more and more unnerved by his presence. Something about the kid didn’t sit right with him, though Yugi knew that he was generally a very gentle and kind student, often overlooked like Yugi was and ignored largely, however there was also the fact that there was just something off about him now. Something made him feel uneasy just by walking near him. There was something off about his eyes that made Yugi want to get as far away from them as possible. Yugi quickly made his way to the lunch room, frowning to see his Anzu and Tristan talking in hushed voices and staring at him with wide eyes from across the room when they saw him enter.

He felt a twinge of guilt and fear when he saw them looking at him like that, and he could sense Yami’s own guilt through his mind. It was a slighter guilt, but he knew that he’d already thrust the boy into something he couldn’t understand and he was distancing him from his friends. He was the one who had asked to remain hidden, and yet now he was the one revealing himself. He supposed that eventually they would have to learn the truth. Right now though he motioned for Yugi to follow him off out of sight. Yugi dejectedly followed the Pharaoh until they reached an old music room that wasn’t used anymore.

Yugi sighed and sat down in the corner to eat his lunch in silence. The strange apparition that was constantly following him blinked and leaned against the walls, seeming to grow more and more at ease in the modern world. Maybe it was just Yugi’s mind growing closer to Yami’s in a nearly constant basis now. The thought made him shudder a little, and he lowered his bento as he turned to look at the Egyptian silently. Sensing his eyes on him, Yami turned to look at Yugi, quickly glancing to make sure that no one would overhear their strange conversation.

“Why can we do that now?” Yugi whispered to the pharaoh. “Why are our minds slowly becoming like one?”

“ _ **It probably has to do with the dark magic of these items,**_ ” Yami replied thoughtfully. “ _ **I don’t...quite remember how they were made, or even why, but I’m not sure I want to. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this puzzle links our minds in ways that allow us to understand each other even though we don’t speak the same language. For example, I can’t read Japanese, but I can understand it spoken, though it sounds like my own language. The same can be said for you.**_ ”

“So it could just be a side effect of the magic?” Yugi asked, blinking in surprise.

“ _ **Or perhaps something more,**_ ” Yami said thoughtfully, thinking carefully. “ _ **I mean, its said that people can be reincarnated, but its also said that people can remember things that their ancestors lived through and even know things they shouldn’t through them. You do look a lot like me, and I...**_ _ **I think I**_ _ **did have a son. Obviously you’re not me reborn, since my spirit is still here. Perhaps though you’re related to me somehow?**_ ”

Yugi paused a while, thinking about it. It almost didn’t seem possible. There was five thousand years of history at least between him and Yami, though he was right when he said that he couldn’t be Yami reborn. His soul was already housed within the Millennium Puzzle. The Ancient Egyptians also seemed to believe that their offspring could gain more than just the looks of their ancestors, but knowledge and wisdom as well through the eyes of the dead, which is why the picture of the eye was so common and worn by the Pharaohs of old, almost as if they were asking for the dead to speak to them.

“I-I guess,” Yugi said carefully. “I mean, they do say that the most powerful spell casters often have family lines that come from Egypt, and I’m not exactly normal. That’s what got me picked on so often, and still does. And it is kind of odd that I look so much like you. No one else in my family had hair like this.” Yugi chuckled a little, and Yami offered a small smile.

“ _ **Either way,**_ ” Yami said. “ _ **We are strongly connected Yugi, and by a magic far more powerful than the Millennium Item. We are connected by fate, a magic that both gods and men cannot escape. I already feel like you are family, even if we aren’t related. Though perhaps, some of our questions will be answered later at the museum.**_ ”

Yugi paused, just starting to put another bite into his mouth. He slowly looked up again at the silent pharaoh, feeling both scared and exhilarated. What was going to happen if they went to the museum? Then there was how his friends were acting, Shadi’s strange warning, and Bakura’s behavior. What was he supposed to think at this point? People seemed to know things he didn’t and seemed to realize that there was more going on than he wanted them to know. Still, he did have responsibilities now, even if he didn’t want to admit it. He tugged at his jacket sleeve again, glancing towards the strange band on his arm.

“Y-Yami?” Yugi managed. “What’s going to happen if you go to the museum? I mean, will you...”

“ _ **I don’t think so,**_ ” Yami replied, his eyes narrowing in concentration. “ _ **I think its going to take a lot more than that, and a lot of magic, to break the seal on my memories. We should be safe from whatever I was protecting the world from, for now.**_ ”

Yugi couldn’t help but relax a little at this response. He felt much better at having promised to go and help out now. He quickly ate his lunch, knowing that he didn’t have a lot of time now before he ended up having to go back to class. Not that he could really concentrate on the lessons today, but he really didn’t need to end up being late to class. He was already in enough hot water today with his friends and teachers as it was. Today had already been rather strange, but he expected that it was only going to end up getting stranger.

Yami’s eyes just narrowed slightly, unknown to Yugi, as he caught the sight of white hair disappearing down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was chapter six. I know, this story is moving a lot faster than Eyes of Darkness or Dragon Pact, but don’t expect it to be winding up faster. I said it has the least complicated plot of all of the series, but I didn’t say things like Duelist Kingdom (with slightly modified rules and such) weren’t going to take place.  
> Basically, we’re learning some basic plot. Be prepared for things to start going weird and fast because of the Millennium Items.


	7. Silent Artifacts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with chapter seven. This one is going to start off right at the Museum with a bit of a time skip and some explaining of the time skip, mostly because nothing else is going to happen until he leaves school. We’re going to meet some very interesting characters. Should be fun. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the chapters.

Yugi had quickly rushed off to the museum right after school, aware that both Kaiba and Bakura’s eyes were on him as he left. Even more surprising, as he glanced back, he saw Kaiba had noticed Bakura and didn’t seem to happy about him for some reason. This only made Yugi more sure that he had been right in not trusting Bakura. As much as Kaiba and Eirwen actually scared him, he felt like he could trust him. One quick glance over the school yard had informed Yugi that, as he had feared, his friends hadn’t come out after him to even try and walk home with him as they usually would have. He heaved a sigh, then turned and hurried off.

Nothing really seemed odd on the streets per-say, except for the fact that they were oddly quiet. It was even seeming to make Yami nervous, who was growing more and more alert to the fact that there was literally nothing going on. Domino City was a small town, but even this small town was usually bustling with activities. Right now it seemed like everyone had pretty much closed up shop and weren’t coming outside of their houses.

The sound of something knocking over a trash can and making a squeak almost made the timid teen dash off in the other direction in terror. Yami quickly steadied him though, motioning to the alley way that they had heard the sound from. The way that the Egyptian was tensed made Yugi uneasily steel his nerves and creep carefully forward, hoping it was just a cat or something. That thought was quickly dashed as he heard the sound of something start crying. Actually _sobbing_ as if it was in terror. The sound made Yugi pause, thinking of the irony. Usually he was the one to get scared into tears and hide away.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but it didn’t sound human, or particularly threatening. Slowly Yugi edged forward, glancing around the trash can and peering down. What he saw made him sigh in relief nearly upon instinct when he saw the largely harmless ball of fluff. It was a Kuriboh, which was a duel spirit that mostly appeared to be a ball of brown fur with a mouth, two green hands with ivory claws and matching feet with three claws, and large purple eyes.

Kuriboh were known for being very gentle and very playful creatures. They often appeared to children and invited them to play or helped them to find their way home when lost. The gentle little creatures weren’t strong but often befriended people they came across as quickly as they met them. That’s why Yugi was a little surprised to see this little guy in so much terror. It was trying to hide its face in its hands in an almost comical manner as it cried, refusing to look up at Yugi. Realizing that the creature was more scared than he was, he quickly knelt down to make himself look smaller and smiled down at the little thing.

“H-Hey,” he called gently. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m actually kind of relieved. I heard you knock over the trash can and got scared. Some weird things are happening. What are you doing here, little guy?”

He could vaguely tell it was a male by the tone of its voice, which was slightly deeper than normal. It spoke no words, seeing how it wasn’t his partner, but slowly it looked up and began making soft trilling noises at him. They were sad sounding, but far less scared as if the creature was looking up and noticed that what appeared to be a child was looking down at him. It was one of the few times Yugi was glad to have his rather adorable body. It helped him in situations like this. He smiled gently at the creature, who seemed to blink at him long and hard. Slowly it began to calm as it watched him and listened to his calm voice.

To his surprise though, the creature suddenly stopped cooing at him in a friendly way and suddenly seemed to grow scared again. It leaped out from its hiding place and grabbed Yugi’s sleeve, pulling on it and making soft, almost screeching noises at him. Yugi was startled, having never heard one make a sound like this. He’d seen others try to lead people in this way, but he’d never really come across one that had been so scared and adamant about leading people anyway. What was it wanting from him? It looked absolutely terrified again.

“Wh-What?” Yugi asked. “What’s going-”

His sentence was cut off as he felt a familiar dark spark across his chest, making Yami look up as well. He’d felt it before and knew what it meant. A Shadow Spirit, a being not unlike a Duel Spirit but from the Shadow Realm, had just appeared. The Kuriboh squeaked again in terror and bolted over to Yugi, leaping into his arms as he stood and shivering. It started glaring around and held out its tiny arms as if to protect the boy though, which made him look down in utter surprise as it nestled as far back as it could against the Millennium Puzzle on his chest.

The sound of something hissing soon reached Yugi’s ears, making him flinch and pull the tiny Kuriboh closer to his chest as he quickly looked around for any sight of the strange creature now hunting him. Something large slithered across the ground, making Yugi shiver and Yami silently tense for battle. From out of the alley across the street from them came a large creature, a tall snake like creature that was all white with golden wings. Yugi felt his breath hitch in his throat as he saw it, not exactly wanting to find out what it was.

“ _ **Yugi,**_ ” Yami warned.

Yugi heeded his warning and leaped away down the street as the creature lunged at him, narrowly missing him and hissing as it shook its head it frustration and pain from having collided with the brick wall of the building next to him. Yugi knew he couldn’t outrun this thing, and his brain was almost blind with panic at this point. Okay, he needed to get away from down town. But how, and where? What was he supposed to do to outrun a massive creature that was obviously much larger than he actually was and obviously faster? The Kuriboh didn’t seem to have any ideas either and just patted Yugi’s arms nervously as if that was going to calm him.

“ _ **Damn,**_ ” Yami hissed. “ _ **We need to get this thing off our tail! We can’t have it get this Millennium Item.**_ ”

Yugi didn’t dare open his mouth for the fear of a very unmanly sound coming out of it in that instant. He wasn’t really looking forward to trying to figure out how he was supposed to get out of this situation, let alone unnoticed like last time. As he rounded the corner though he yelped as the snake like creature shot forward and curled its massive body in a close circle around him, quickly blocking off any hope of escape as it chuckled down at him. His tongue danced out in front of its face as Yugi backed up in alarm as far as he could, and the creature let out a low hiss.

“ _There now,_ ” he said. “I _ssn’t thisss better? Now we can get to know each other. I asssume you know what I want, boy._ ”

Yugi instinctively pulled the Kuriboh closer to his chest and the Millennium Item, which the creature didn’t seem to really mind at all. It looked about as dangerous as a ball of fluff could as it hissed out something to the snake like creature in front of them. The creature seemed to grow more angry as it hissed low and long, obviously eying the tiny Kuriboh with distaste. Yugi felt torn between finding a way to escape and help the little thing. Yami looked just as torn, frowning as he looked up at the snake, glancing often at Yugi. Yugi doubted a Shadow Game would go unnoticed here though.

“ _Ssstupid creature,_ ” the snake hissed. “ _You’re lucky the boy isss holding you, or you’d be dead right now._ ”

Yugi was both impressed that the creature was picking fights for him and scared for his health as the creature did so. It was obviously terrified and shivering as it sat there, but apparently having Yugi around had made the creature decide that he was going to try and protect him for as long as possible. The snake like creature hissed again but then turned back to Yugi, appearing to try and smile as if pleasantly at the boy, which was ruined by the enormous fangs sticking out of his mouth. Yami seemed to be shifting more and more now, debating something silently.

“ _Come now,_ ” the snake said in a silky voice. “ _Let’sss not be hasssty. All I asssk for isss that Millennium Puzzle you’re wearing. That’sss not ssso much, right? Hand it over, and I will let you walk away._ ”

The threat was clear behind every word that the creature was no saying, which made the Kuriboh growl and bristle more in response to it. Even if the creature had no idea what the Shadow Spirit meant by Millennium Puzzle, he could definitely hear his tone and wasn’t liking it one bit. Yami it seemed, wasn’t liking it much either, and quickly raised a single hand, pointing it towards the creature’s face and concentrated for a long moment. Yugi was surprised at this.

Was he going to cast a spell or something? It was obvious he didn’t want to use a Shadow Game, but could Yami even cast a spell without a physical body? Before that question could be answered however there was a flash of green and the sound of metal slicing through muscle.The snake yowled and threw itself backwards in pain as it hissed, trying to grab at whatever had slashed at it. The creature leaped back, and Yugi was surprised to see a Celtic Guardian there.

He was wearing a green cap, green tunic, brown pants and boots, and had pointed ears. Dark marks were under both of his blue eyes, and his bright blonde hair was clearly visible. He was holding his sword to the ready as he slowly circled the hissing snake, now forgetting about Yugi in his anger and beginning to slowly uncoil. The elf like creature frowned as it saw that he wasn’t yet free, leaping back as the snake lunged and forcing it to follow. Yugi was a little surprised. He didn’t think that this creature was strong enough to take on the Shadow Spirit, yet he was trying to draw it away? He supposed though that he was glad to be away from the terrifying snake.

Yugi slowly tried to ease his way around the snake’s tail, hoping to slip by unnoticed by the snake. He didn’t make it far before the snake seemed to remember him though and whirled around as if to check on him. The snake hissed as it noticed him and turned, quickly lunging to grab him again. The Celtic Guardian, seeing the creature do so, leaped forward to attempt to stop it, but this time its slash didn’t seem to phase the snake. Yugi found himself freezing up, just as the Kuriboh leaped out of his arms and into the snake’s mouth, which closed down hard.

Yugi gasped in horror, before hearing an odd sound and suddenly being lifted up off of the ground. When he found he had stopped moving, he was now on the back of a large purple horse with blue and golden armor on his head, a blonde mane, and a golden bridle. The creature behind him was covered in blue and golden armor, carrying two huge red lances in his hands. His face was largely not seen, though his skin appeared dark and his eyes glinted out from behind the helmet. Before Yugi could really react to his stranger savior, the knight wheeled his ever faithful steed around made it dash away from the snake, who quickly spat out the kuriboh and hissed in anger.

This was a Gaia the Fierce Knight and his ever faithful steed, which was almost an extension of itself rather than the separate creature that it was. The horse pawed the ground and whinnied aggressively as it glared at the snake. Yami, seeing that Yugi wasn’t in any immediate danger, finally relaxed and ran back towards the boy as quickly as he could, seeming not nearly as surprised as Yugi actually felt. What were all these Duel Spirits doing in the Real World right now? Why was this snake after him so soon after the first? His hands tightened involuntarily against the horse’s neck, which made it snort in anger at the snake.

The knight paused a moment, laying its huge hand on Yugi’s shoulder for a few moments. Then he turned and leaped down off of his horse, patting its side and striding towards the snake. The horse, having understood whatever its master had said. Shook its mane and took a few steps back. It quickly nudged Yugi’s hands until he grabbed the reigns, then it seemed content to watch the snake carefully as the more powerful Gaia the Fierce Knight joined the Celtic Guardian in trying to fight the snake and make it leave.

Yugi watched with wide eyes, wondering if he should do something to help as the two warriors danced around the snake, avoiding its deadly blows and striking if it tried to attack the other. They were both good fighters, he could tell that quickly, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to figure out how they had learned to be that good. He was pleased however when Yami reached him, and he saw the kuriboh quickly bounce up. It was dazed but unhurt.

Of course it was. The snake had been aiming to grab Yugi, so it had been trying to be as gentle as possible. It didn’t want to hurt him, because…well why didn’t it want to hurt him? It had just been threatening to kill him! Maybe it sensed Yami and the threat he posed? Or maybe he didn’t want to push until Yami appeared. The thought honestly didn’t make much sense to Yugi, but he was glad that the creature was unhurt and made its way over to him. The horse pawed the ground in a sort of greeting as the kuriboh drew near but let it approach. Soon the thing had managed to bounce up into Yugi’s arms, who caught it in surprise.

Blinking down at it as it cooed at him and cuddled into his chest, he was more confused. He knew there had been a war between the Spirit and Shadow Realms for just about forever, so he knew they were probably protecting him because of their dislike for the snake and attachment to humans, but it didn’t answer why they were here. Had something happened to allow them to come here, or drive them here? If that was the case, then was it possible it had something to do with the magic of the Millennium Items? He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

The horse whinnied comfortingly as Yugi sat the Kuriboh down in front of him and grabbed the reigns again, watching the Celtic Guardian narrowly miss the fangs of the snake. It was getting closer and closer now, and he was worried they were going to end up getting hurt because of him. Finally edging around the two warriors, significantly more hurt, it lunged at Yugi again. The horse was much faster though and soon leaped away, causing the snake to crash into the side of a building and destroy it, along with several street lamps. Actually, Yugi was surprised it hadn’t done nearly as much damage as it could have at this point.

The two warriors leaped back onto the snake quickly while it hissed, determined to kill it and keep it from hurting Yugi like they seemed to think it was. Yugi felt a sharp tug as he got too far away from Yami, and glanced over his shoulder, surprised to see the ghost now on the horse behind him. Other than twitching a little, the horse didn’t seem to notice that anything odd had happened at all. The Kuriboh seemed to think he was nervous and cuddled up against him, cooing quietly at the boy as if to help calm him. The horse flicked its tail as it watched the snake at its usual rider battling. For now the two warriors were unhurt.

That quickly changed though as the snake thrashed, hitting the Celtic Guardian hard with its tail and sending it flying with enough force to shatter a wall and send it tumbling inside another building. That left the Gaia the Fierce Knight as the creature’s sole opponent, and the horse shifted nervously, as if wanting to go to his aid but not wanting to leave the boy behind either. Yugi winced as the dazed Celtic Guardian managed to stand again and find his sword. He was bleeding now and hurt, but Yugi knew a hit like that would have already killed Yugi. It just went to prove yet again how much more powerful Duel Spirits were than humans. Seeing Yugi looking now, it quickly scowled and leaped forward again, saving the knight from some serious damage from the surprised snake’s fangs.

Yugi bit his lip a little as he watched the fight continuing. He hated fighting, mostly because people got hurt. He especially hated that these creatures were getting hurt trying to protect him. Yugi was beginning to hear the sounds of police sirens beginning to wail. They weren’t that far from downtown, and the museum couldn’t be that far away. There was little doubt in his mind that they had figured out what was going on. He hated to think that anyone had seen him and was worried about him, but he was quickly distracted as the horse leaped forward again to avoid its knight as it was thrown at the horse and the boy.

Yugi looked up with worried eyes as the creature stood again, motioning back its agitated steed. He could tell, even without being able to see much of the creature’s face, that it was worried that they weren’t going to be able to win. Yugi felt nervous. He had to help. He had to do something! He couldn’t let them die because of him! He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. He’d been good at magic when he was younger, but after being practically beaten to death when he was a kid for being so good at it he had quickly become rather timid and hated using magic. If there was a time he needed it though, it was now.

“Guiding beacon that reveals the path,” he said quietly, hesitating a little to try and remember the spell. Human spell casters needed to use incantations to use spells, though Duel Spirits did not. “Silent shadows begone as day comes again. Give me the strength to cast out evil. Divine Light!”

Yami sucked in a breath at the name of the spell as Yugi raised his hands above his head skyward, looking towards the snake. Sensing the magic, the horse neighed in surprise, causing the two startled warriors to leap out of the way of the attack. The snake like creature however wasn’t nearly as lucky and looked up as a bright beam of light suddenly appeared from the sky and struck him. It did no damage to the surrounding area, and even when the rays touched the two warriors it didn’t seem to harm them. The snake however screamed and howled, writhing in agony as the light slowly faded. Yugi gasped at the release of the spell, falling forward and practically squishing the surprised kuriboh. He felt exhausted. He hadn’t used magic like that in forever.

The two warriors quickly recovered from the surprise however and leaped onto the weakened and injured snake. Yugi closed his eyes and forced himself to remember how to breathe as he waited for the world to quit spinning. The horse stayed silent and didn’t move as it waited for the boy to recover, and the Kuriboh was silent. Yugi didn’t open his eyes. Were they scared of him? Everyone always was. He was a powerful spell caster, but he didn’t use normal magic either. Yami finally seemed to be able to speak, and he sounded surprised.

“ _ **Y-Yugi are you okay?**_ ” he asked. He seemed to grow worried when the boy didn’t respond. “ _ **Yugi!**_ ”

“I-I’m fine,” Yugi muttered. Yami let out a sigh of relief.

“ _ **Good,**_ ” he said. “ _ **I thought you’d hurt yourself. I didn’t know you were such a powerful spell caster. I thought it was nearly impossible, yet I guess I’ve been proven wrong. Humans can really use the power of the gods. You really do use Divine Magic! No wonder Slifer seemed so interested in you!**_ ” The thought didn’t make Yugi feel any better.

“I don’t like to use magic,” Yugi muttered. “People always hated me for it. They were scared of me.” Yami seemed to let out a saddened sigh.

“ _ **Truly the worst part of the human condition,**_ ” he sighed. “ _ **is our inability to accept things we cannot understand.**_ ”

Yugi was left to wonder for a moment about what he meant, and he slowly forced himself to sit up. The sirens were growing closer, and the two warriors were still fighting the snake in front of them. As Yugi sat up, he noticed police and their careful partners appearing to take care of the Shadow Spirit, giving the Celtic Guardian and the Gaia the Fierce Knight to retreat. They quickly made their way over to Yugi as he sat up, and they both seemed concerned for him. When they saw him looking they both smiled at him, and the Kuriboh seemed to start cooing in what seemed to be a calming fashion as it leaped down.

Yugi couldn’t help but slowly relax, and he let the Knight pull him off of his horse and carefully set him down. Once Yugi was stable on his feet Yami leaped off the horse, and the purple animal (much larger than any other horse) bent its head down and brushed its soft lips against Yugi’s forehead as if fondly and to help calm him. The three Duel Spirits seemed to be having a conversation, evident by the exhausted Warrior’s facial expressions as the Kuriboh bounced up and down. The horse continued to nudge Yugi until he started petting its neck and shoulders, though he almost had to stand on his tip toes to do so.

Finally the Celtic Guardian seemed to turned to Yugi, who wondered if he looked as stunned as he felt. He must have, because the creature paused a moment, before carefully lowering his sword as if to make himself seem less intimidating and raised his hand. He placed it gently on Yugi’s forehead, closing his eyes for a few minutes as he seemed to be waiting. As this was going on, and Yugi forced himself not to shift uncomfortably under the creature’s hand, the knight and his horse turned to look again at the snake as it drew closer for a few moments. A strange tingling sensation alerted Yugi to the use of magic, and he looked up in surprise.

“ _There,_ ” the creature said in a soft voice that didn’t match his rugged exterior. “ _now we can speak. Don’t be afraid._ ” he mistook Yugi’s surprise as fear apparently. “ _I’m not going to hurt you._ ”

“I-I gathered as much,” Yugi mumbled, which made the creature seem to relax a little and smile.

“ _You’re not hurt are you?_ ” he asked. Yugi shook his head and the creature sighed in relief. “ _I’d ended up getting lost here after another one of the strange energy sparks. I saw that thing had cornered you, so I couldn’t let you get hurt._ ”

“Energy sparks?” Yugi asked in confusion. The Celtic Guardian nodded his head.

“ _That’s right,_ ” he said. “ _They’ve been popping up everywhere and sending Duel Spirits into the Real World. Its a dark magic, one that we haven’t sensed in five thousand years. The power of it is largely forgotten, little more than legend to us. But they say it had something to do with Ancient Egypt and a great tragedy that happened there._ ”

Yugi couldn’t help but find himself thinking that this is when the Millennium Items had been rumored to appear, when the world had been opened to magic and Duel Spirits in the first place, and when some terrible thing had happened that had made him kill himself and forget everything to keep the world safe for just a while longer. The Celtic Guardian didn’t seem to notice the change in his facial expression and just continued to explain.

“ _Of course,_ ” he said. “ _I thought it was kind of strange that you practically radiated Divine Magic. I suppose I understand why now though. I’ve never heard of a human using Divine Magic! Not in at least three thousand years. Its part of what made me decide I had to help you. Obviously something that was going to attack a defenseless human with such beautiful magic needed to be defeated immediately. My name’s Knil, the Kuriboh is Saul, the Gaia the Fierce Knight is Galliant and his horse is a mare named Violet._ ”

“O-Oh,” Yugi said, surprised a little. “My name’s Yugi Moto. Thanks for helping me.”

“ _Don’t worry about it,_ ” Knil said with a small smile. He glanced towards the Knight, then back towards Yugi. “ _Though, we wouldn’t want you to get into any more trouble. You should make a contract with us so you could summon us if you needed to. With your amount of magic it should be no problem. A human with enough strength to use even one spell of Divine nature could summon a whole army of Duel Spirits without breaking a sweat._ _That way Saul could come in every now and then and check on you._ ”

“Wh-What?” Yugi stammered. “Th-That’s possible? I mean...would that even be okay.” The kuriboh giggled as Violet nudged him as if fondly and the two warriors chuckled.

“ _Of course its fine,_ ” Kiln said. “ _It would help us too. Its easier for spirits bound to a human to get home to the Spirit Realm as well. Besides, we wouldn’t feel right leaving you behind like this when you’re obviously being attacked. Look, you could make us contracts, which means we could be summoned to help you, and Saul your ‘pet’ contract. Then he could pop up whenever he wanted to make sure you were okay and alert us if you needed help and couldn’t call. Its simple, and its not like it will hurt._ ”

“ _ **Its all right Yugi,**_ ” Yami chuckled. “ _ **Its much the same magic used to form a contract with a Partner. Besides, they speak the truth. I can sense it.**_ ”

Yugi paused just a moment, looking down. He really didn’t want to form this contract. He hated that people picked on him enough already as it was with just his normal magic. He didn’t want these spirits to be dragged along with him and get hurt because of yet more of his magic. The thought though brought up Merlin’s strict gaze, and he found himself wondering why he was hesitating as he shook his head. He was sure these guys could handle it. They had taken on a Shadow Spirit and lived after all. If Yami trusted them, then he did too, and he did want to help them.

“Okay,” he said quietly. “What do I do?” Saul cooed and jumped up and down in front of Yugi happily as the two warriors smiled.

“ _Just give us your hands and stand there,_ ” the Celtic Guardian ordered.

Yugi held out his hands, almost surprised when he felt Violet lean into him as the two warriors took his hands and closed their eyes. For a long while nothing seemed to happen, and then they simply stepped back as he looked at them perplexed. He felt the other spell that let him talk to the Celtic Guardian end, and the Kuriboh jumped up into his arms, much to his surprise.

“ _There,_ ” Knil said with a smile. “ _Simple and painless._ ”

“ _Remember to call us if you need us,_ ” Galliant reminded him in a regal voice. “ _To summon Violet and I, use the words: Summon Magic:_ _Earth_ _Warrior contract. Concentrate on us as you do, and we’ll hear you call and come running. Each Duel Spirit is different._ ”

“ _To call me,_ ” Knil said patiently. “ _Say: Summon Magic:_ _Earth Warrior Contract. Remember to concentrate on me as well. I’ll come if you need me. I couldn’t dream of not answering for someone with magic like yours. Only a pure soul can use magic like that._ ”

The Kuriboh purred lightly as it closed its eyes and smiled at him. Violet stood and backed away a little as the Kuriboh used its own magic, as it touched his leg, and the others all just watched, perfectly content with the little creature. As soon as it was done, it heard the creature both giggle in his head as all duel spirits attached to a person talked, and out loud.

“ _That leaves me,_ ” Saul giggled in a high pitched but still male voice. “ _I can come whenever I want, so don’t be surprised if you see me. If you want to summon me though, say: Summon Magic: Dark Fiend Pet. Then I’ll be there quick!_ ”

Yugi just nodded, trying to get all the information into his mind. He was still a little stunned by their offer, but glad for it at least. It might be easier to stay out of trouble if he could have them around to back him up. He almost groaned a little as he thought about what his friends were going to think when they heard he’d been attacked by a Shadow Spirit (admittedly again) when they weren’t around. They were probably going to beat themselves up about it a lot. He looked over, quickly noticing his grandfather in the crowd. He kept glancing at the Millennium Item on his chest, but he looked more worried than anything.

Of course he was there. His best friend was Professor Hawkins, who was practically running the exhibit at this point. Why wouldn’t he have gone to speak to him? Yugi supposed he was foolish to try and hide the Millennium Item for so long. Now how was he supposed to explain it to his grandfather? Either way, he’d probably just have to tell him what had happened. He was such a bad liar anyway that he couldn’t pretend he didn’t know anything about it. He glanced towards Yami, who just sighed and shook his head with a shrug. He didn’t know what to tell Yugi. However it seemed like things were getting more and more heated as time went on.

“ _Yugi?_ ” Galliant suddenly asked.

“A-Ah,” he said, almost surprised by this. “Sorry. Its my grandfather.”

“ _I see,_ ” he said as he swung up again on Violet’s back. “ _Well, you should probably go explain what happened then, shouldn’t you?_ ”

“Y-Yeah,” Yugi sighed.

He didn’t get far though, because soon he found himself surrounded by police and their partners, most of which were in their human forms and looking extremely unnerved. Within a few seconds they waded past his contracts and made their way over to him. There was concern and confusion plastered onto all of their faces as they quickly began to check the small teenager over for any wounds. Other than being a little sore from where Galliant had first lifted him onto Violet and out of harm’s way in his right shoulder though, he was completely unharmed, which his new contracts seemed very happy about. One, a tall woman, shook her head in disbelief.

“Not a scratch,” she said. “Does anything hurt? Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine,” he said. “My shoulder’s a little sore but that’s just because Galliant picked me up so fast.” Several Duel Spirits took no time in now checking his shoulder.

“Galliant?” the woman asked. “Is that your Partner?”

“N-No,” Yugi said, feeling more self conscious. “He’s a contract. My Partner returned home. He seemed a little unnerved.” This got the interest of the three new Spirits.

“Really?” the woman asked. “What is your Partner?”

“A Dark Magician.”

You could have heard a pen drop at that point as the Duel Spirits and humans alike all froze as if they’d been struck. Yugi knew why though. Dark Magicians were thought to be wise and helpful spirits, and the fact that one seemed so scared of anything that was going on was reason for concern enough. The woman quickly tried to disguise her worry as she looked down at Yugi again, trying to smile as if to reassure her. He could quickly see through it, and he could sense that Yami could as well through their slowly growing mental connection.

“A-Ah,” she said. “I see. Still, I’m surprised that you’re able to make contracts with so many spirits. That’s not an ability that many people seem to have. I wasn’t aware our little town had such a powerful spell caster in it. Still, you’re lucky you’re not more hurt. Oh right. Do you have any family you can call? They’ll need to know what happened.”

“M-My grandfather’s over there,” he said, pointing out the small man.

“I’ll bring him here,” the woman assured him.

She quickly left, and the police finally began to back away and leave Yugi alone. When they were far enough away Yugi felt himself relax just slightly. He really didn’t like being the center of attention for any reason, and he hoped that they’d just forget him and leave him alone. He doubted that was happening though, and noticed a small news crew for the local station now filming the scene and no doubt reporting live. There was little that ever happened in this city, so there was no doubt that he was being aired on television. He was grateful though when Knil stepped between the small boy and the camera, blocking him from view.

None of the spirits said anything, just watching Yugi closely and with perplexed faces. Violet nudged Yugi’s injured shoulder gently, making him wince a little. That was going to be all kinds of sore later on. She let out a soft puff of air in apology, but the spirits just continued to watch him for a long moment, unsure what to do. They didn’t have long to wonder what it was they were supposed to do for the boy though, as a short old man made his way over.

“Yugi,” he said in concern. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine grandpa,” Yugi replied with a small smile. “I promise. Just a little sore.”

“Where’s Merlin?” he asked with a confused look on his face.

“He said something about going home to check on some things,” Yugi replied. “I’m lucky I ran into these guys. They’ve all uh...apparently made contracts with me, so I can summon them if I need to.”

“I see,” his grandfather said, seeming confused. “Well, are you sure you’re all right? I can take you to the hospital if I need to. My friend Arthur can wait.”

“I’m fine,” Yugi said with a smile. “I was actually supposed to be coming over here at four. Mr. Kugarugi asked me to come.”

“Hm,” he said, though he sounded relieved. “If you’re sure. Then Yugi, I believe we need to talk about the ah...item around your neck.”

The three Duel Spirits finally seemed to notice the object and looked down at it with some surprise and now concern, because the tone of the man’s voice did really seem to warn that something bigger was going on about this thing than they probably could have imagined at this point. Yugi quickly ducked his head and turned to follow his grandfather into the museum not far away, where he spotted another older man with gray hair and a mustache, and a girl shorter than Yugi with blonde hair in pigtails, big brown eyes, and carrying a stuffed bear. Next to them was a worried Mr. Kugarugi, who was watching Yugi with wide eyes.

“ _ **It certainly didn’t take them long to notice,**_ ” Yami commented, noting that even the little girl was now watching Yugi with some interest. When she saw him looking though she quickly snubbed him and went walking purposely into the museum.

Yugi had a feeling that he was not ready for this, and glad suddenly that the curious Duel Spirits had followed him into the museum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh look guys! A longer chapter! I was going to make it longer but decided to cut in pretty much in half. So next chapter will involve some different things including several things about the plot itself. Other than some basic reveals and reactions after that though we’re not going to see anything really happen until the “Duelist Kingdom Arc” which I’m having a whole lot of trouble and fun re-imagining.   
> Because you know...real monsters and no spell or trap cards. Wow. What have I gotten myself into now?

**Author's Note:**

> Fate:  
> the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.


End file.
